Methods and kits for diagnosing or monitoring autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for diagnosing, monitoring and/or treating an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease. In particular, the present invention provides methods for diagnosing, monitoring and treating an autoimmune disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis) or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus) based on detecting or altering (e.g., altering expression or methylation status of) autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease proteins (e.g., CD70 and CD40L). The present invention also provides kits for detecting methylation status of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease proteins (e.g., CD70 and CD40L) and for diagnosing, monitoring and/or treating autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseases.

The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/575,912, filed Jun. 1, 2004, the disclosure ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

This invention was made with government support under AR042525, AR42753,and AG014783 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. Thegovernment has certain rights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to compositions and methods fordiagnosing, monitoring and/or treating an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease. In particular, the present invention providesmethods for diagnosing, monitoring and treating an autoimmune disease(e.g., rheumatoid arthritis) or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g.,systemic lupus erythematosus) based on detecting or altering (e.g.,altering expression or methylation status of) autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 and CD40L). The presentinvention also provides kits for detecting methylation status ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 andCD40L) and for diagnosing, monitoring and/or treating autoimmune orchronic inflammatory diseases.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Autoimmune diseases are generally understood to be diseases where thetarget of the disease is “self” or “self antigen.” Among the many typesof autoimmune diseases, there are a number of diseases that are believedto involve T cell immunity directed to self antigens, including, forexample, multiple sclerosis (MS), Type I diabetes, and rheumatoidarthritis (RA).

RA is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by joint pain. Thecourse of the disease is variable, but can be both debilitating andmutilating. According to conservative estimates approximately 50,000,000individuals are afflicted with RA worldwide. Those individuals are notonly subjected to life-long disability and misery, but as currentevidence suggests, their life expectancy is compromised as well.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory diseasethat can affect various parts of the body including skin, blood,kidneys, and joints. SLE may manifest as a mild disease or be seriousand life-threatening. More than 16,000 cases of SLE are reported in theUnited States each year, with up to 1.5 million cases diagnosed.Although SLE can occur at any age, and in either sex, it has been foundto occur 10-15 times more frequently in women.

SLE is characterized by the production of auto-antibodies havingspecificity for a wide range of self-antigens. SLE auto-antibodiesmediate organ damage by directly binding to host tissues and by formingimmune complexes that deposit in vascular tissues and activate variousimmune cells. SLE induced damage to the host targets the skin, kidneys,vasculature, joints, various blood elements, and the central nervoussystem (CNS). The severity of disease, the spectrum of clinicalinvolvement, and the response to therapy vary widely among patients. Theclinical heterogeneity of SLE makes it challenging to diagnose, monitorand manage.

When a patient is diagnosed with an autoimmune disease such as RA andSLE, the choice of appropriate therapeutic interventions would beconsiderably facilitated by diagnostic and prognostic indicators thataccurately reflect the current severity of the disease, predict futureseverity, and monitor response to therapy. Thus, there is a need in theart for reliable diagnostic and prognostic methods to monitor diseaseactivity and response to therapy in patients suffering from autoimmuneand chronic inflammatory diseases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to compositions and methods fordiagnosing, monitoring and/or treating an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease. In particular, the present invention providesmethods for diagnosing, monitoring and treating an autoimmune disease(e.g., rheumatoid arthritis) or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g.,systemic lupus erythematosus) based on detecting or altering (e.g.,altering expression or methylation status of) autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 and CD40L). The presentinvention also provides kits for detecting methylation status ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 andCD40L) and for diagnosing, monitoring and/or treating autoimmune orchronic inflammatory diseases.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the present invention provides amethod for detecting methylation status of CD70 in a subject, comprisingproviding a biological sample from the subject, wherein the biologicalsample comprises CD70 and exposing the sample to reagents for detectingmethylation status of CD70. In some embodiments, the reagents detectmethylation status of the 5′ untranslated region of CD70. In furtherembodiments, the 5′ untranslated region comprises the −338 to −515(e.g., −466 to −515) region of CD70. In some embodiments, the biologicalsample is selected from the group comprising a bone marrow sample, ablood sample, a serum sample, a platelet sample, a nucleic acid sample,a DNA sample, a tissue sample, a urine sample, and purified or filteredforms thereof. In some embodiments, the detecting comprises use of apolymerase chain reaction. In other embodiments, the detecting comprisesdifferential antibody binding. In still other embodiments, the detectingcomprises restriction enzyme digestion. In yet other embodiments, thedetecting comprises use of oligonucleotide binding assays. In someembodiments, the detecting comprises use of a microarray. In otherembodiments, the detecting comprises use of bisulfite sequencing.

The present invention also provides a method for detecting methylationstatus of CD70 in a subject, comprising providing a biological samplefrom a subject, wherein the biological sample comprises the 5′untranslated CD70 region and detecting methylation status of the −466 to−515 region of the 5′ untranslated CD70 region in the biological sample.In some embodiments, the analyzed portion of the 5′ untranslated CD70region is from −338 to −466. The present invention is not limited by theregion analyzed. For example, as described below and shown in thefigures, numerous additional differentially methylated regions find usewith the methods of the present invention.

The present invention additionally provides a method of diagnosing ormonitoring an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease in a subject,comprising: providing nucleic acid from a subject and detecting themethylation status of CD70 in the nucleic acid. In some embodiments, themethod detects the methylation status of the −338 to −515 (e.g., −446 to−515) region of the 5′ untranslated CD70 region. In some embodiments,the method further detects the methylation status of perforin. In otherembodiments, the method further detects the methylation status of CD11a.In still other embodiments, the method detects the methylation status ofIgE FCRγ1. In still other embodiments, the method detects themethylation status of CD30. In still other embodiments, the methoddetects the methylation status of CD11c. In some embodiments, themethylation status of CD40L is detected. In some embodiments, the methoddetects the methylation status of two or more of perforin, CD11a, CD30,CD11c, CD40L and IgE FCRγ1. In some embodiments, the chronicinflammatory disease is systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE). In someembodiments, PCR is used for detection. In some embodiments, the presentinvention provides a method of diagnosing or detecting an autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease in a subject comprising detecting,individually or in combination, the methylation status of CD70, CD11a,CD30, CD11c, CD40L and IgE FCRγ1.

The present invention further provides a kit comprising reagents fordetecting methylation status of CD70 in a subject. In some embodiments,the kit further comprises a positive control that indicates CD70methylation status. In some embodiments, the kit comprises instructionsfor using the kit for detecting methylation status of CD70. In someembodiments, the kit further comprises instructions for diagnosing ormonitoring an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease in the subjectbased on methylation status of CD70. In further embodiments, the kitinstructions comprise instructions required by the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration for in vitro diagnostic kits. In some embodiments, thekit comprises instructions for diagnosing or monitoring an autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease based on methylation status of perforin. Inother embodiments, the kit comprises reagents and/or instructions fordiagnosing or monitoring an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasebased on methylation status of CD11a. In still further embodiments, thekit comprises instructions and/or reagents for diagnosing or monitoringan autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease based on methylationstatus of IgE FCRγ1. In still further embodiments, the kit comprisesinstructions and/or reagents for diagnosing or monitoring an autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease based on methylation status of CD11cand/or CD40L. In still further embodiments, the kit comprisesinstructions and/or reagents for diagnosing or monitoring an autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease based on methylation status of CD30. Insome embodiments, the kit comprises instructions for diagnosing ormonitoring an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease based onmethylation status of two or more of perforin, CD11a, CD30, CD11c, CD40Land IgE FCRγ1. In some embodiments, PCR is used for detection.

The present invention also provides a kit for detecting gene expressionassociated with SLE, comprising reagents for detecting methylationstatus of CD70 and a positive control that indicates test results forCD70 methylation status. In some embodiments, the kit comprisesinstructions for using the kit for detecting methylation status of CD70.In some embodiments, the kit comprises instructions for diagnosing ormonitoring SLE based on methylation status of CD70. In furtherembodiments, the instructions comprise instructions required by the U.S.Food and Drug Administration for in vitro diagnostic kits. In someembodiments, the kit comprises instructions and/or reagents fordiagnosing or monitoring SLE based on methylation status of perforin. Inother embodiments, the kit comprises instructions and/or reagents fordiagnosing or monitoring SLE based on methylation status of CD11a. Instill other embodiments, the kit comprises instructions and/or reagentfor diagnosing or monitoring SLE based on methylation status of IgEFCRγ1. In still other embodiments, the kit comprises instructions and/orreagent for diagnosing or monitoring SLE based on methylation status ofCD30. In still other embodiments, the kit comprises instructions and/orreagent for diagnosing or monitoring SLE based on methylation status ofCD11c. In some embodiments, the kit comprises instructions fordiagnosing or monitoring SLE based on methylation status of two or moreof perforin, CD11a, CD30, CD11c, CD40L and IgE FCRγ1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows the effect of DNA methylation inhibition on CD70expression.

FIG. 2 shows increased CD70 expression induced by DNA methylationinhibitors.

FIG. 3 shows increased B cell costimulation by polyclonal T cellstreated with DNA methylation inhibitors, and reversal with anti-CD70.

FIG. 4 shows increased B cell costimulation by cloned T cells treatedwith DNA methylation inhibitors, and reversal with anti-CD70.

FIG. 5 shows overexpression of CD70 on T cells from patients withsystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

FIG. 6 shows anti-CD70 inhibition of IgG synthesis induced by lupus Tcells.

FIG. 7 shows methylation status of the CD70 promoter in CD4+ T cells.

FIG. 8 shows the effect of lupus and DNA methylation inhibitors on aregulatory element in the CD70 promoter.

FIG. 9. shows Dnmt and ERK pathway inhibitors increase CD70 mRNA in CD4+T cells.

FIG. 10. shows the TNFSF7 promoter and 5′ flanking region sequence andrelevant features. The filled circles represent the potentiallymethylatable CG pairs, and the broken arrow the putative transcriptionstart site. The locations of potential transcription factor bindingsites and CAAT boxes are also shown.

FIG. 11. shows TNFSF7 promoter activity. (A) Shows activity of a 1018 bpfragment (−996 to +52) cloned into pGL3-Basic while (B) shows activityof the fragments spanning the indicated regions. The results ofpGL3-Basic constructs containing the promoter fragments (gray bars) arenormalized to the paired empty vector control (black bars) and representthe mean ±SEM of 2 independent experiments.

FIG. 12 shows TNFSF7 promoter methylation patterns in CD4+ and CD8+ Tcells. (A) CD4+ T cells. (B) CD8+ T cells.

FIG. 13. shows TNFSF7 promoter methylation patterns in CD4+ T cellstreated with DNA methylation inhibitors: (A) non-treated controls; (B)5-azaC; (C) Pca; (D) U0126; (E) PD98059; and (F) Hyd.

FIG. 14 shows the average methylation of the −515 to −423 sequenceaffected by treatment with DNA methylation inhibitors.

FIG. 15 shows the effect of regional methylation on TNFSF7 promoterfunction.

FIG. 16 shows CD70 mRNA levels in CD4+ T cells from lupus patients andcontrols.

FIG. 17 shows TNFSF7 promoter methylation in CD4+ T cells from lupuspatients and controls. (A-C) of the region from −1000 to −200; (D) ofthe region between −515 and −423.

FIG. 18 shows CD40L methylation patterns.

FIG. 19 shows the CD40L promoter methylation in healthy men and women.

FIG. 20 shows the CD40L promoter is demethylated in CD4+ T cells from awoman with active lupus.

FIG. 21 shows the CD40L Promoter is demethylated in women with lupus.

FIG. 22 depicts CD40L promoter map.

DEFINITIONS

As used herein, the term “autoimmune disease” refers generally todiseases which are characterized as having a component ofself-recognition. Examples of autoimmune diseases include, but are notlimited to, Autoimmune hepatitis, Multiple Sclerosis, Systemic LupusErythematosus, Myasthenia Gravis, Type I diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis,Psoriasis, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Grave's disease, AnkylosingSpondylitis Sjogrens Disease, CREST syndrome, Scleroderma and many more.Most autoimmune diseases are also chronic inflammatory diseases. This isdefined as a disease process associated with long-term (>6 months)activation of inflammatory cells (leukocytes). The chronic inflammationleads to damage of patient organs or tissues. Many diseases are chronicinflammatory disorders, but are not know to have an autoimmune basis.For example, Atherosclerosis, Congestive Heart Failure, Crohn's disease,Ulcerative Colitis, Polyarteritis nodosa, Whipple's Disease, PrimarySclerosing Cholangitis and many more.

The clinical manifestations of these diseases range from mild to severe.Mild disease encompasses symptoms that may be function-altering and/orcomfort-altering, but are neither immediately organ-threatening norlife-threatening. Severe disease entails organ-threatening and/orlife-threatening symptoms. For example, severe autoimmune disease isoften associated with clinical manifestations such as nephritis,vasculitis, central nervous system disease, premature atherosclerosis orlung disease, or combinations thereof, that require aggressive treatmentand may be associated with premature death. Anti-phospholipid antibodysyndrome is often associated with arterial or venous thrombosis. Anystatistically significant correlation that is found to exist betweenautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 or CD40L)methylation and any clinical parameters of an autoimmune or inflammatorydisease enables the use of an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker (e.g., CD70 or CD40L) methylation assay as part of a diagnosticbattery for that disease or group of diseases.

Diseases can exhibit ranges of activities. As used herein, diseaseactivity (e.g., “active lupus”) refers to whether the pathologicalmanifestations of the disease are fulminant, quiescent, or in a statebetween these two extremes. For example, a patient suffering from SLEhaving active disease could be diagnosed or monitored through detectinga hypomethylated form of an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker (e.g., CD70 or CD40L) described in the present invention, whereasa patient having inactive disease would manifest comparatively higher ornormal levels of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers(e.g., CD70 or CD40L) methylation.

The term “epitope” as used herein refers to that portion of an antigenthat makes contact with a particular antibody.

When a protein or fragment of a protein is used to immunize a hostanimal, numerous regions of the protein may induce the production ofantibodies which bind specifically to a given region orthree-dimensional structure on the protein; these regions or structuresare referred to as “antigenic determinants”. An antigenic determinantmay compete with the intact antigen (i.e., the “immunogen” used toelicit the immune response) for binding to an antibody.

The terms “specific binding” or “specifically binding” when used inreference to the interaction of an antibody and a protein or peptidemeans that the interaction is dependent upon the presence of aparticular structure (i.e., the antigenic determinant or epitope) on theprotein; in other words the antibody is recognizing and binding to aspecific protein structure rather than to proteins in general. Forexample, if an antibody is specific for epitope “A,” the presence of aprotein containing epitope A (or free, unlabelled A) in a reactioncontaining labeled “A” and the antibody will reduce the amount oflabeled A bound to the antibody.

As used herein, the terms “non-specific binding” and “backgroundbinding” when used in reference to the interaction of an antibody and aprotein or peptide refer to an interaction that is not dependent on thepresence of a particular structure (i.e., the antibody is binding toproteins in general rather that a particular structure such as anepitope).

As used herein, the term “subject” refers to any animal (e.g., amammal), including, but not limited to, humans, non-human primates,rodents, and the like, which is to be the recipient of a particulartreatment. Typically, the terms “subject” and “patient” are usedinterchangeably herein in reference to a human subject.

As used herein, the term “subject suspected of having autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease” refers to a subject that presents one ormore symptoms indicative of an autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease (e.g., hives or joint pain) or is being screened for anautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., during a routinephysical). A subject suspected of having an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease may also have one or more risk factors. A subjectsuspected of having an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease hasgenerally not been tested for autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease. However, a “subject suspected of having autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease ” encompasses an individual who has received aninitial diagnosis but for whom the severity of the autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease is not known. The term further includes people whoonce had autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease but whose symptomshave ameliorated.

As used herein, the term “subject at risk for autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease” refers to a subject with one or more risk factorsfor developing an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease. Riskfactors include, but are not limited to, gender, age, geneticpredisposition, environmental expose, previous incidents of autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease, preexisting non-autoimmune or chronicinflammatory diseases, and lifestyle.

As used herein, the term “characterizing autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease in subject” refers to the identification of one ormore properties of a sample in a subject, including but not limited to,the presence of calcified tissue and the subject's prognosis. Autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease may be characterized by theidentification of the expression of one or more autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker genes, including but not limited to, theautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers disclosed herein.

As used herein, the term “autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker genes” refers to a gene whose expression level and/or whosemethylation status, or other characterisitic, alone or in combinationwith other genes, is correlated with autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease or prognosis of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease. Thecorrelation may relate to either an increased or decreased expression,or an increased or decreased methylation, of the gene. For example, theexpression or low levels of methylation (e.g., as compared to normal,healthy controls) of the gene may be indicative of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease, or lack of expression or high levels ofmethylation (e.g., as compared to normal, healthy controls) of the genemay be correlated with poor prognosis in an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease patient. Autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker expression and methylation status may be characterized using anysuitable method, including but not limited to, those described inillustrative Examples 1-14 below.

As used herein, the term “a reagent that specifically detects expressionlevels” refers to reagents used to detect the expression of one or moregenes and the term “a reagent that specifically detects methylationstatus” refers to reagents used to detect the methylation status of oneor more genes (e.g., including but not limited to, the autoimmune andchronic inflammatory disease markers of the present invention). Examplesof suitable reagents include but are not limited to, nucleic acid probescapable of specifically hybridizing to the gene of interest, PCR primerscapable of specifically amplifying the gene of interest, PCR primersthat function in the context of a methylation sensitive PCR reaction,and antibodies capable of specifically binding to proteins expressed bythe gene of interest. Other non-limiting examples can be found in thedescription and examples below.

As used herein, the term “detecting a decreased or increased expressionrelative to non-autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease control”refers to measuring the level of expression of a gene (e.g., the levelof mRNA or protein) relative to the level in a non-autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease control sample. Gene expression can be measuredusing any suitable method, including but not limited to, those describedherein.

As used herein, the term “detecting a change in gene expression (e.g.,of CD70, IgE FCRγ1, CD30, CD40L or CD11c) in said autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease sample in the presence of said test compoundrelative to the absence of said test compound” refers to measuring analtered level of expression (e.g., increased or decreased) in thepresence of a test compound relative to the absence of the testcompound. Gene expression can be measured using any suitable method,including but not limited to, those described in Examples 1-14 below.

As used herein, the term “instructions for using said kit for detectingautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease in said subject” includesinstructions for using the reagents contained in the kit for thedetection and characterization of autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease in a sample from a subject. In some embodiments, theinstructions further comprise the statement of intended use required bythe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in labeling in vitrodiagnostic products.

As used herein, the term “autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseaseexpression profile map” refers to a presentation of expression levels ofgenes in a particular type of autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease. The map may be presented as a graphical representation (e.g.,on paper or on a computer screen), a physical representation (e.g., agel or array) or a digital representation stored in computer memory. Inpreferred embodiments, maps are generated from pooled samples comprisingsamples from a plurality of patients with the same type of autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease.

As used herein, the terms “computer memory” and “computer memory device”refer to any storage media readable by a computer processor. Examples ofcomputer memory include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, computerchips, digital video disc (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), hard disk drives(HDD), and magnetic tape.

As used herein, the term “computer readable medium” refers to any deviceor system for storing and providing information (e.g., data andinstructions) to a computer processor. Examples of computer readablemedia include, but are not limited to, DVDs, CDs, hard disk drives,magnetic tape and servers for streaming media over networks.

As used herein, the terms “processor” and “central processing unit” or“CPU” are used interchangeably and refer to a device that is able toread a program from a computer memory (e.g., ROM or other computermemory) and perform a set of steps according to the program.

As used herein, the term “providing a prognosis” refers to providinginformation regarding the impact of the presence of autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease (e.g., as determined by the diagnosticmethods of the present invention) on a subject's future health (e.g.,expected morbidity or mortality).

As used herein, the term “subject diagnosed with an autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease ” refers to a subject who has been testedand found to have autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease. Theautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease may be diagnosed using anysuitable method, including but not limited to, biopsy, x-ray, bloodtest, and the diagnostic methods of the present invention.

As used herein, the term “initial diagnosis” refers to results ofinitial autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease diagnosis (e.g. thepresence or absence of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease). Aninitial diagnosis does not include information about the severity of theautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease.

As used herein, the term “non-human animals” refers to all non-humananimals including, but are not limited to, vertebrates such as rodents,non-human primates, ovines, bovines, ruminants, lagomorphs, porcines,caprines, equines, canines, felines, aves, etc.

As used herein, the term “gene transfer system” refers to any means ofdelivering a composition comprising a nucleic acid sequence to a cell ortissue. For example, gene transfer systems include, but are not limitedto, vectors (e.g., retroviral, adenoviral, adeno-associated viral, andother nucleic acid-based delivery systems), microinjection of nakednucleic acid, polymer-based delivery systems (e.g., liposome-based andmetallic particle-based systems), biolistic injection, and the like. Asused herein, the term “viral gene transfer system” refers to genetransfer systems comprising viral elements (e.g., intact viruses,modified viruses and viral components such as nucleic acids or proteins)to facilitate delivery of the sample to a desired cell or tissue. Asused herein, the term “adenovirus gene transfer system” refers to genetransfer systems comprising intact or altered viruses belonging to thefamily Adenoviridae.

As used herein, the term “site-specific recombination target sequences”refers to nucleic acid sequences that provide recognition sequences forrecombination factors and the location where recombination takes place.

As used herein, the term “nucleic acid molecule” refers to any nucleicacid containing molecule, including but not limited to, DNA or RNA. Theterm encompasses sequences that include any of the known base analogs ofDNA and RNA including, but not limited to, 4-acetylcytosine,8-hydroxy-N6-methyladenosine, aziridinylcytosine, pseudoisocytosine,5-(carboxyhydroxylmethyl) uracil, 5-fluorouracil, 5-bromouracil,5-carboxymethylaminomethyl-2-thiouracil,5-carboxymethylaminomethyluracil, dihydrouracil, inosine,N6-isopentenyladenine, 1-methyladenine, 1-methylpseudouracil,1-methylguanine, 1-methylinosine, 2,2-dimethylguanine, 2-methyladenine,2-methylguanine, 3-methylcytosine, 5-methylcytosine, N6-methyladenine,7-methylguanine, 5-methylaminomethyluracil,5-methoxyaminomethyl-2-thiouracil, beta-D-mannosylqueosine,5′-methoxycarbonylmethyluracil, 5-methoxyuracil,2-methylthio-N6-isopentenyladenine, uracil-5-oxyacetic acid methylester,uracil-5-oxyacetic acid, oxybutoxosine, pseudouracil, queosine,2-thiocytosine, 5-methyl-2-thiouracil, 2-thiouracil, 4-thiouracil,5-methyluracil, N-uracil-5-oxyacetic acid methylester,uracil-5-oxyacetic acid, pseudouracil, queosine, 2-thiocytosine, and2,6-diaminopurine.

The term “gene” refers to a nucleic acid (e.g., DNA) sequence thatcomprises coding sequences necessary for the production of apolypeptide, precursor, or RNA (e.g., rRNA, tRNA). The polypeptide canbe encoded by a full length coding sequence or by any portion of thecoding sequence so long as the desired activity or functional properties(e.g., enzymatic activity, ligand binding, signal transduction,immunogenicity, etc.) of the full-length or fragment are retained. Theterm also encompasses the coding region of a structural gene and thesequences located adjacent to the coding region on both the 5′ and 3′ends for a distance of about 1 kb or more on either end such that thegene corresponds to the length of the full-length mRNA. Sequenceslocated 5′ of the coding region and present on the mRNA are referred toas 5′ non-translated sequences. Sequences located 3′ or downstream ofthe coding region and present on the mRNA are referred to as 3′non-translated sequences. The term “gene” encompasses both cDNA andgenomic forms of a gene. A genomic form or clone of a gene contains thecoding region interrupted with non-coding sequences termed “introns” or“intervening regions” or “intervening sequences.” Introns are segmentsof a gene that are transcribed into nuclear RNA (hnRNA); introns maycontain regulatory elements such as enhancers. Introns are removed or“spliced out” from the nuclear or primary transcript; introns thereforeare absent in the messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript. The mRNA functionsduring translation to specify the sequence or order of amino acids in anascent polypeptide.

As used herein, the term “heterologous gene” refers to a gene that isnot in its natural environment. For example, a heterologous geneincludes a gene from one species introduced into another species. Aheterologous gene also includes a gene native to an organism that hasbeen altered in some way (e.g., mutated, added in multiple copies,linked to non-native regulatory sequences, etc). Heterologous genes aredistinguished from endogenous genes in that the heterologous genesequences are typically joined to DNA sequences that are not foundnaturally associated with the gene sequences in the chromosome or areassociated with portions of the chromosome not found in nature (e.g.,genes expressed in loci where the gene is not normally expressed).

As used herein, the term “gene expression” refers to the process ofconverting genetic information encoded in a gene into RNA (e.g., mRNA,rRNA, tRNA, or snRNA) through “transcription” of the gene (i.e., via theenzymatic action of an RNA polymerase), and for protein encoding genes,into protein through “translation” of mRNA. Gene expression can beregulated at many stages in the process. “Up-regulation” or “activation”refers to regulation that increases the production of gene expressionproducts (i.e., RNA or protein), while “down-regulation” or “repression”refers to regulation that decrease production. Molecules (e.g.,transcription factors) that are involved in up-regulation ordown-regulation are often called “activators” and “repressors,”respectively.

In addition to containing introns, genomic forms of a gene may alsoinclude sequences located on both the 5′ and 3′ end of the sequencesthat are present on the RNA transcript. These sequences are referred toas “flanking” sequences or regions (these flanking sequences are located5′ or 3′ to the non-translated sequences present on the mRNAtranscript). The 5′ flanking region may contain regulatory sequencessuch as promoters and enhancers that control or influence thetranscription of the gene. The 3′ flanking region may contain sequencesthat direct the termination of transcription, post-transcriptionalcleavage and polyadenylation.

The term “wild-type” refers to a gene or gene product isolated from anaturally occurring source. A wild-type gene is that which is mostfrequently observed in a population and is thus arbitrarily designed the“normal” or “wild-type” form of the gene. In contrast, the term“modified” or “mutant” refers to a gene or gene product that displaysmodifications in sequence and or functional properties (i.e., alteredcharacteristics, e.g., hypomethylation) when compared to the wild-typegene or gene product. It is noted that naturally occurring mutants canbe isolated; these are identified by the fact that they have alteredcharacteristics (including altered nucleic acid sequences) when comparedto the wild-type gene or gene product.

DNA molecules are said to have “5′ ends” and “3′ ends” becausemononucleotides are reacted to make oligonucleotides or polynucleotidesin a manner such that the 5′ phosphate of one mononucleotide pentosering is attached to the 3′ oxygen of its neighbor in one direction via aphosphodiester linkage. Therefore, an end of an oligonucleotides orpolynucleotide, referred to as the “5′ end” if its 5′ phosphate is notlinked to the 3′ oxygen of a mononucleotide pentose ring and as the “3′end” if its 3′ oxygen is not linked to a 5′ phosphate of a subsequentmononucleotide pentose ring. The promoter and enhancer elements thatdirect transcription of a linked gene are generally located 5′ orupstream of the coding region. However, enhancer elements can exerttheir effect even when located 3′ of the promoter element and the codingregion. Transcription termination and polyadenylation signals arelocated 3′ or downstream of the coding region.

As used herein, the term “regulatory element” refers to a geneticelement that controls some aspect of the expression of nucleic acidsequences. For example, a promoter is a regulatory element thatfacilitates the initiation of transcription of an operably linked codingregion. Other regulatory elements include splicing signals,polyadenylation signals, termination signals, etc.

As used herein, the term “methylation status” refers to the presence orabsence of methylation within a gene, specifically, to the presence orabsence of methylation of deoxycytosine (dC) bases in CG pairs within agene, the presence of which serves as one of the mechanisms by whichgene expression is suppressed (See, e.g., Attwood et al., Cell Mol LifeSci 59, 241 (2002)).

As used herein, the terms “nucleic acid molecule encoding,” “DNAsequence encoding,” and “DNA encoding” refer to the order or sequence ofdeoxyribonucleotides along a strand of deoxyribonucleic acid. The orderof these deoxyribonucleotides determines the order of amino acids alongthe polypeptide (protein) chain. The DNA sequence thus codes for theamino acid sequence.

As used herein, the terms “an oligonucleotide having a nucleotidesequence encoding a gene” and “polynucleotide having a nucleotidesequence encoding a gene,” means a nucleic acid sequence comprising thecoding region of a gene or in other words the nucleic acid sequence thatencodes a gene product. The coding region may be present in a cDNA,genomic DNA or RNA form. When present in a DNA form, the oligonucleotideor polynucleotide may be single-stranded (i.e., the sense strand) ordouble-stranded. Suitable control elements such as enhancers/promoters,splice junctions, polyadenylation signals, etc. may be placed in closeproximity to the coding region of the gene if needed to permit properinitiation of transcription and/or correct processing of the primary RNAtranscript. Alternatively, the coding region utilized in the expressionvectors of the present invention may contain endogenousenhancers/promoters, splice junctions, intervening sequences,polyadenylation signals, etc. or a combination of both endogenous andexogenous control elements.

As used herein, the term “oligonucleotide,” refers to a short length ofsingle-stranded polynucleotide chain. Oligonucleotides are typicallyless than 200 residues long (e.g., between 15 and 100), however, as usedherein, the term is also intended to encompass longer polynucleotidechains. Oligonucleotides are often referred to by their length. Forexample a 24 residue oligonucleotide is referred to as a “24-mer”.Oligonucleotides can form secondary and tertiary structures byself-hybridizing or by hybridizing to other polynucleotides. Suchstructures can include, but are not limited to, duplexes, hairpins,cruciforms, bends, and triplexes.

As used herein, the terms “complementary” or “complementarity” are usedin reference to polynucleotides (i.e., a sequence of nucleotides)related by the base-pairing rules. For example, for the sequence“5′-A-G-T-3′,” is complementary to the sequence “3′-T-C-A-5′.”Complementarity may be “partial,” in which only some of the nucleicacids' bases are matched according to the base pairing rules. Or, theremay be “complete” or “total” complementarity between the nucleic acids.The degree of complementarity between nucleic acid strands hassignificant effects on the efficiency and strength of hybridizationbetween nucleic acid strands. This is of particular importance inamplification reactions, as well as detection methods that depend uponbinding between nucleic acids.

The term “homology” refers to a degree of complementarity. There may bepartial homology or complete homology (i.e., identity). A partiallycomplementary sequence is a nucleic acid molecule that at leastpartially inhibits a completely complementary nucleic acid molecule fromhybridizing to a target nucleic acid is “substantially homologous.” Theinhibition of hybridization of the completely complementary sequence tothe target sequence may be examined using a hybridization assay(Southern or Northern blot, solution hybridization and the like) underconditions of low stringency. A substantially homologous sequence orprobe will compete for and inhibit the binding (i.e., the hybridization)of a completely homologous nucleic acid molecule to a target underconditions of low stringency. This is not to say that conditions of lowstringency are such that non-specific binding is permitted; lowstringency conditions require that the binding of two sequences to oneanother be a specific (i.e., selective) interaction. The absence ofnon-specific binding may be tested by the use of a second target that issubstantially non-complementary (e.g., less than about 30% identity); inthe absence of non-specific binding the probe will not hybridize to thesecond non-complementary target.

When used in reference to a double-stranded nucleic acid sequence suchas a cDNA or genomic clone, the term “substantially homologous” refersto any probe that can hybridize to either or both strands of thedouble-stranded nucleic acid sequence under conditions of low stringencyas described above.

A gene may produce multiple RNA species that are generated bydifferential splicing of the primary RNA transcript. cDNAs that aresplice variants of the same gene will contain regions of sequenceidentity or complete homology (representing the presence of the sameexon or portion of the same exon on both cDNAs) and regions of completenon-identity (for example, representing the presence of exon “A” on cDNA1 wherein cDNA 2 contains exon “B” instead). Because the two cDNAscontain regions of sequence identity they will both hybridize to a probederived from the entire gene or portions of the gene containingsequences found on both cDNAs; the two splice variants are thereforesubstantially homologous to such a probe and to each other.

When used in reference to a single-stranded nucleic acid sequence, theterm “substantially homologous” refers to any probe that can hybridize(i.e., it is the complement of) the single-stranded nucleic acidsequence under conditions of low stringency as described above.

As used herein, the term “hybridization” is used in reference to thepairing of complementary nucleic acids. Hybridization and the strengthof hybridization (i.e., the strength of the association between thenucleic acids) is impacted by such factors as the degree ofcomplementary between the nucleic acids, stringency of the conditionsinvolved, the T_(m) of the formed hybrid, and the G:C ratio within thenucleic acids. A single molecule that contains pairing of complementarynucleic acids within its structure is said to be “self-hybridized.”

As used herein, the term “T_(m)” is used in reference to the “meltingtemperature.” The melting temperature is the temperature at which apopulation of double-stranded nucleic acid molecules becomes halfdissociated into single strands. The equation for calculating the T_(m)of nucleic acids is well known in the art. As indicated by standardreferences, a simple estimate of the T_(m) value may be calculated bythe equation: T_(m)=81.5+0.41(% G+C), when a nucleic acid is in aqueoussolution at 1 M NaCl (See e.g., Anderson and Young, Quantitative FilterHybridization, in Nucleic Acid Hybridization (1985)). Other referencesinclude more sophisticated computations that take structural as well assequence characteristics into account for the calculation of T_(m).

As used herein the term “stringency” is used in reference to theconditions of temperature, ionic strength, and the presence of othercompounds such as organic solvents, under which nucleic acidhybridizations are conducted. Under “low stringency conditions” anucleic acid sequence of interest will hybridize to its exactcomplement, sequences with single base mismatches, closely relatedsequences (e.g., sequences with 90% or greater homology), and sequenceshaving only partial homology (e.g., sequences with 50-90% homology).Under “medium stringency conditions,” a nucleic acid sequence ofinterest will hybridize only to its exact complement, sequences withsingle base mismatches, and closely relation sequences (e.g., 90% orgreater homology). Under “high stringency conditions,” a nucleic acidsequence of interest will hybridize only to its exact complement, and(depending on conditions such a temperature) sequences with single basemismatches. In other words, under conditions of high stringency thetemperature can be raised so as to exclude hybridization to sequenceswith single base mismatches.

“High stringency conditions” when used in reference to nucleic acidhybridization comprise conditions equivalent to binding or hybridizationat 42° C. in a solution consisting of 5×SSPE (43.8 g/l NaCl, 6.9 g/lNaH₂PO₄H₂O and 1.85 g/l EDTA, pH adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH), 0.5% SDS,5× Denhardt's reagent and 100 μg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA followedby washing in a solution comprising 0.1×SSPE, 1.0% SDS at 42° C. when aprobe of about 500 nucleotides in length is employed.

“Medium stringency conditions” when used in reference to nucleic acidhybridization comprise conditions equivalent to binding or hybridizationat 42° C. in a solution consisting of 5×SSPE (43.8 g/l NaCl, 6.9 g/lNaH₂PO₄H₂O and 1.85 g/l EDTA, pH adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH), 0.5% SDS,5× Denhardt's reagent and 100 μg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA followedby washing in a solution comprising 1.0×SSPE, 1.0% SDS at 42° C. when aprobe of about 500 nucleotides in length is employed.

“Low stringency conditions” comprise conditions equivalent to binding orhybridization at 42° C. in a solution consisting of 5×SSPE (43.8 g/lNaCl, 6.9 g/l NaH₂PO₄H₂O and 1.85 g/l EDTA, pH adjusted to 7.4 withNaOH), 0.1% SDS, 5× Denhardt's reagent (50× Denhardt's contains per 500ml: 5 g Ficoll (Type 400, Pharamcia), 5 g BSA (Fraction V; Sigma)) and100 μg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA followed by washing in a solutioncomprising 5×SSPE, 0.1% SDS at 42° C. when a probe of about 500nucleotides in length is employed.

The art knows well that numerous equivalent conditions may be employedto comprise low stringency conditions; factors such as the length andnature (DNA, RNA, base composition) of the probe and nature of thetarget (DNA, RNA, base composition, present in solution or immobilized,etc.) and the concentration of the salts and other components (e.g., thepresence or absence of formamide, dextran sulfate, polyethylene glycol)are considered and the hybridization solution may be varied to generateconditions of low stringency hybridization different from, butequivalent to, the above listed conditions. In addition, the art knowsconditions that promote hybridization under conditions of highstringency (e.g., increasing the temperature of the hybridization and/orwash steps, the use of formamide in the hybridization solution, etc.)(see definition above for “stringency”).

“Amplification” is a special case of nucleic acid replication involvingtemplate specificity. It is to be contrasted with non-specific templatereplication (i.e., replication that is template-dependent but notdependent on a specific template). Template specificity is heredistinguished from fidelity of replication (i.e., synthesis of theproper polynucleotide sequence) and nucleotide (ribo- or deoxyribo-)specificity. Template specificity is frequently described in terms of“target” specificity. Target sequences are “targets” in the sense thatthey are sought to be sorted out from other nucleic acid. Amplificationtechniques have been designed primarily for this sorting out.

Template specificity is achieved in most amplification techniques by thechoice of enzyme. Amplification enzymes are enzymes that, underconditions they are used, will process only specific sequences ofnucleic acid in a heterogeneous mixture of nucleic acid. For example, inthe case of Qβ replicase, MDV-1 RNA is the specific template for thereplicase (Kacian et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 69:3038 (1972)).Other nucleic acids will not be replicated by this amplification enzyme.Similarly, in the case of T7 RNA polymerase, this amplification enzymehas a stringent specificity for its own promoters (Chamberlin et al.,Nature 228:227 (1970)). In the case of T4 DNA ligase, the enzyme willnot ligate the two oligonucleotides or polynucleotides, where there is amismatch between the oligonucleotide or polynucleotide substrate and thetemplate at the ligation junction (Wu and Wallace, Genomics 4:560(1989)). Finally, Taq and Pfu polymerases, by virtue of their ability tofunction at high temperature, are found to display high specificity forthe sequences bounded and thus defined by the primers; the hightemperature results in thermodynamic conditions that favor primerhybridization with the target sequences and not hybridization withnon-target sequences (H.A. Erlich (ed.), PCR Technology, Stockton Press(1989)).

As used herein, the term “amplifiable nucleic acid” is used in referenceto nucleic acids that may be amplified by any amplification method. Itis contemplated that “amplifiable nucleic acid” will usually comprise“sample template.”

As used herein, the term “sample template” refers to nucleic acidoriginating from a sample that is analyzed for the presence of “target.”In contrast, “background template” is used in reference to nucleic acidother than sample template that may or may not be present in a sample.Background template is most often inadvertent. It may be the result ofcarryover, or it may be due to the presence of nucleic acid contaminantssought to be purified away from the sample. For example, nucleic acidsfrom organisms other than those to be detected may be present asbackground in a test sample.

As used herein, the term “primer” refers to an oligonucleotide, whetheroccurring naturally as in a purified restriction digest or producedsynthetically, that is capable of acting as a point of initiation ofsynthesis when placed under conditions in which synthesis of a primerextension product that is complementary to a nucleic acid strand isinduced, (i.e., in the presence of nucleotides and an inducing agentsuch as DNA polymerase and at a suitable temperature and pH). The primeris preferably single stranded for maximum efficiency in amplification,but may alternatively be double stranded. If double stranded, the primeris first treated to separate its strands before being used to prepareextension products. Preferably, the primer is anoligodeoxyribonucleotide. The primer must be sufficiently long to primethe synthesis of extension products in the presence of the inducingagent. The exact lengths of the primers will depend on many factors,including temperature, source of primer and the use of the method.

As used herein, the term “probe” refers to an oligonucleotide (i.e., asequence of nucleotides), whether occurring naturally as in a purifiedrestriction digest or produced synthetically, recombinantly or by PCRamplification, that is capable of hybridizing to at least a portion ofanother oligonucleotide of interest. A probe may be single-stranded ordouble-stranded. Probes are useful in the detection, identification andisolation of particular gene sequences. It is contemplated that anyprobe used in the present invention will be labeled with any “reportermolecule,” so that is detectable in any detection system, including, butnot limited to enzyme (e.g., ELISA, as well as enzyme-basedhistochemical assays), fluorescent, radioactive, and luminescentsystems. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to anyparticular detection system or label.

As used herein the term “portion” when in reference to a nucleotidesequence (as in “a portion of a given nucleotide sequence”) refers tofragments of that sequence. The fragments may range in size from fournucleotides to the entire nucleotide sequence minus one nucleotide (10nucleotides, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 200, etc.).

As used herein, the term “amplification reagents” refers to thosereagents (deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates, buffer, etc.), needed foramplification except for primers, nucleic acid template and theamplification enzyme. Typically, amplification reagents along with otherreaction components are placed and contained in a reaction vessel (testtube, microwell, etc.).

As used herein, the terms “restriction endonucleases” and “restrictionenzymes” refer to bacterial enzymes, each of which cut double-strandedDNA at or near a specific nucleotide sequence.

The terms “in operable combination,” “in operable order,” and “operablylinked” as used herein refer to the linkage of nucleic acid sequences insuch a manner that a nucleic acid molecule capable of directing thetranscription of a given gene and/or the synthesis of a desired proteinmolecule is produced. The term also refers to the linkage of amino acidsequences in such a manner so that a functional protein is produced.

The term “isolated” when used in relation to a nucleic acid, as in “anisolated oligonucleotide” or “isolated polynucleotide” refers to anucleic acid sequence that is identified and separated from at least onecomponent or contaminant with which it is ordinarily associated in itsnatural source. Isolated nucleic acid is such present in a form orsetting that is different from that in which it is found in nature. Incontrast, non-isolated nucleic acids as nucleic acids such as DNA andRNA found in the state they exist in nature. For example, a given DNAsequence (e.g., a gene) is found on the host cell chromosome inproximity to neighboring genes; RNA sequences, such as a specific mRNAsequence encoding a specific protein, are found in the cell as a mixturewith numerous other mRNAs that encode a multitude of proteins. However,isolated nucleic acid encoding a given protein includes, by way ofexample, such nucleic acid in cells ordinarily expressing the givenprotein where the nucleic acid is in a chromosomal location differentfrom that of natural cells, or is otherwise flanked by a differentnucleic acid sequence than that found in nature. The isolated nucleicacid, oligonucleotide, or polynucleotide may be present insingle-stranded or double-stranded form. When an isolated nucleic acid,oligonucleotide or polynucleotide is to be utilized to express aprotein, the oligonucleotide or polynucleotide will contain at a minimumthe sense or coding strand (i.e., the oligonucleotide or polynucleotidemay be single-stranded), but may contain both the sense and anti-sensestrands (i.e., the oligonucleotide or polynucleotide may bedouble-stranded).

As used herein, the term “purified” or “to purify” refers to the removalof components (e.g., contaminants) from a sample. For example,antibodies are purified by removal of contaminating non-immunoglobulinproteins; they are also purified by the removal of immunoglobulin thatdoes not bind to the target molecule. The removal of non-immunoglobulinproteins and/or the removal of immunoglobulins that do not bind to thetarget molecule results in an increase in the percent of target-reactiveimmunoglobulins in the sample. In another example, recombinantpolypeptides are expressed in bacterial host cells and the polypeptidesare purified by the removal of host cell proteins; the percent ofrecombinant polypeptides is thereby increased in the sample.

“Amino acid sequence” and terms such as “polypeptide” or “protein” arenot meant to limit the amino acid sequence to the complete, native aminoacid sequence associated with the recited protein molecule.

The term “native protein” as used herein to indicate that a protein doesnot contain amino acid residues encoded by vector sequences; that is,the native protein contains only those amino acids found in the proteinas it occurs in nature. A native protein may be produced by recombinantmeans or may be isolated from a naturally occurring source.

As used herein the term “portion” when in reference to a protein (as in“a portion of a given protein”) refers to fragments of that protein. Thefragments may range in size from four amino acid residues to the entireamino acid sequence minus one amino acid.

The term “Southern blot,” refers to the analysis of DNA on agarose oracrylamide gels to fractionate the DNA according to size followed bytransfer of the DNA from the gel to a solid support, such asnitrocellulose or a nylon membrane. The immobilized DNA is then probedwith a labeled probe to detect DNA species complementary to the probeused. The DNA may be cleaved with restriction enzymes prior toelectrophoresis. Following electrophoresis, the DNA may be partiallydepurinated and denatured prior to or during transfer to the solidsupport. Southern blots are a standard tool of molecular biologists (J.Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold SpringHarbor Press, NY, pp 9.31-9.58 (1989)).

The term “Northern blot,” as used herein refers to the analysis of RNAby electrophoresis of RNA on agarose gels to fractionate the RNAaccording to size followed by transfer of the RNA from the gel to asolid support, such as nitrocellulose or a nylon membrane. Theimmobilized RNA is then probed with a labeled probe to detect RNAspecies complementary to the probe used. Northern blots are a standardtool of molecular biologists (J. Sambrook, et al., supra, pp 7.39-7.52(1989)).

The term “Western blot” refers to the analysis of protein(s) (orpolypeptides) immobilized onto a support such as nitrocellulose or amembrane. The proteins are run on acrylamide gels to separate theproteins, followed by transfer of the protein from the gel to a solidsupport, such as nitrocellulose or a nylon membrane. The immobilizedproteins are then exposed to antibodies with reactivity against anantigen of interest. The binding of the antibodies may be detected byvarious methods, including the use of radiolabeled antibodies.

The term “transgene” as used herein refers to a foreign gene that isplaced into an organism by, for example, introducing the foreign geneinto newly fertilized eggs or early embryos. The term “foreign gene”refers to any nucleic acid (e.g., gene sequence) that is introduced intothe genome of an animal by experimental manipulations and may includegene sequences found in that animal so long as the introduced gene doesnot reside in the same location as does the naturally occurring gene.

As used herein, the term “vector” is used in reference to nucleic acidmolecules that transfer DNA segment(s) from one cell to another. Theterm “vehicle” is sometimes used interchangeably with “vector.” Vectorsare often derived from plasmids, bacteriophages, or plant or animalviruses.

The term “expression vector” as used herein refers to a recombinant DNAmolecule containing a desired coding sequence and appropriate nucleicacid sequences necessary for the expression of the operably linkedcoding sequence in a particular host organism. Nucleic acid sequencesnecessary for expression in prokaryotes usually include a promoter, anoperator (optional), and a ribosome binding site, often along with othersequences. Eukaryotic cells are known to utilize promoters, enhancers,and termination and polyadenylation signals.

The terms “overexpression” and “overexpressing” and grammaticalequivalents, are used in reference to levels of mRNA to indicate a levelof expression approximately 3-fold higher (or greater) than thatobserved in a given tissue in a control or non-transgenic animal. Levelsof mRNA are measured using any of a number of techniques known to thoseskilled in the art including, but not limited to Northern blot analysis.Appropriate controls are included on the Northern blot to control fordifferences in the amount of RNA loaded from each tissue analyzed (e.g.,the amount of 28S rRNA, an abundant RNA transcript present atessentially the same amount in all tissues, present in each sample canbe used as a means of normalizing or standardizing the mRNA-specificsignal observed on Northern blots). The amount of mRNA present in theband corresponding in size to the correctly spliced transgene RNA isquantified; other minor species of RNA which hybridize to the transgeneprobe are not considered in the quantification of the expression of thetransgenic mRNA.

The term “transfection” as used herein refers to the introduction offoreign DNA into eukaryotic cells. Transfection may be accomplished by avariety of means known to the art including calcium phosphate-DNAco-precipitation, DEAE-dextran-mediated transfection, polybrene-mediatedtransfection, electroporation, microinjection, liposome fusion,lipofection, protoplast fusion, retroviral infection, and biolistics.

The term “calcium phosphate co-precipitation” refers to a technique forthe introduction of nucleic acids into a cell. The uptake of nucleicacids by cells is enhanced when the nucleic acid is presented as acalcium phosphate-nucleic acid co-precipitate. The original technique ofGraham and van der Eb (Graham and van der Eb, Virol., 52:456 (1973)),has been modified by several groups to optimize conditions forparticular types of cells. The art is well aware of these numerousmodifications.

The term “stable transfection” or “stably transfected” refers to theintroduction and integration of foreign DNA into the genome of thetransfected cell. The term “stable transfectant” refers to a cell thathas stably integrated foreign DNA into the genomic DNA.

The term “transient transfection” or “transiently transfected” refers tothe introduction of foreign DNA into a cell where the foreign DNA failsto integrate into the genome of the transfected cell. The foreign DNApersists in the nucleus of the transfected cell for several days. Duringthis time the foreign DNA is subject to the regulatory controls thatgovern the expression of endogenous genes in the chromosomes. The term“transient transfectant” refers to cells that have taken up foreign DNAbut have failed to integrate this DNA.

As used herein, the term “selectable marker” refers to the use of a genethat encodes an enzymatic activity that confers the ability to grow inmedium lacking what would otherwise be an essential nutrient (e.g. theHIS3 gene in yeast cells); in addition, a selectable marker may conferresistance to an antibiotic or drug upon the cell in which theselectable marker is expressed. Selectable markers may be “dominant”; adominant selectable marker encodes an enzymatic activity that can bedetected in any eukaryotic cell line. Examples of dominant selectablemarkers include the bacterial aminoglycoside 3′ phosphotransferase gene(also referred to as the neo gene) that confers resistance to the drugG418 in mammalian cells, the bacterial hygromycin G phosphotransferase(hyg) gene that confers resistance to the antibiotic hygromycin and thebacterial xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase gene (alsoreferred to as the gpt gene) that confers the ability to grow in thepresence of mycophenolic acid. Other selectable markers are not dominantin that their use must be in conjunction with a cell line that lacks therelevant enzyme activity. Examples of non-dominant selectable markersinclude the thymidine kinase (tk) gene that is used in conjunction withtk⁻ cell lines, the CAD gene that is used in conjunction withCAD-deficient cells and the mammalian hypoxanthine-guaninephosphoribosyl transferase (hprt) gene that is used in conjunction withhprt⁻ cell lines. A review of the use of selectable markers in mammaliancell lines is provided in Sambrook, J. et al., Molecular Cloning: ALaboratory Manual, 2nd ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, NewYork (1989) pp. 16.9-16.15.

As used herein, the term “cell culture” refers to any in vitro cultureof cells. Included within this term are continuous cell lines (e.g.,with an immortal phenotype), primary cell cultures, transformed celllines, finite cell lines (e.g., non-transformed cells), and any othercell population maintained in vitro.

As used, the term “eukaryote” refers to organisms distinguishable from“prokaryotes.” It is intended that the term encompass all organisms withcells that exhibit the usual characteristics of eukaryotes, such as thepresence of a true nucleus bounded by a nuclear membrane, within whichlie the chromosomes, the presence of membrane-bound organelles, andother characteristics commonly observed in eukaryotic organisms. Thus,the term includes, but is not limited to such organisms as fungi,protozoa, and animals (e.g., humans).

As used herein, the term “in vitro” refers to an artificial environmentand to processes or reactions that occur within an artificialenvironment. In vitro environments can consist of, but are not limitedto, test tubes and cell culture. The term “in vivo” refers to thenatural environment (e.g., an animal or a cell) and to processes orreaction that occur within a natural environment.

The terms “test compound” and “candidate compound” refer to any chemicalentity, pharmaceutical, drug, and the like that is a candidate for useto treat or prevent a disease, illness, sickness, or disorder of bodilyfunction (e.g., autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease). Testcompounds comprise both known and potential therapeutic compounds. Atest compound can be determined to be therapeutic by screening using thescreening methods of the present invention. In some embodiments of thepresent invention, test compounds include antisense compounds.

As used herein, the term “sample” is used in its broadest sense. In onesense, it is meant to include a specimen or culture obtained from anysource, as well as biological and environmental samples. Biologicalsamples may be obtained from animals (including humans) and refers to abiological material or compositions found therein, including, but notlimited to, bone marrow, blood, serum, platelet, plasma, interstitialfluid, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, nucleic acid, DNA, tissue, andpurified or filtered forms thereof. Environmental samples includeenvironmental material such as surface matter, soil, water, crystals andindustrial samples. Such examples are not however to be construed aslimiting the sample types applicable to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to compositions and methods fordiagnosing, monitoring and/or treating an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease. In particular, the present invention providesmethods for diagnosing, monitoring and treating an autoimmune disease(e.g., rheumatoid arthritis) or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g.,systemic lupus erythematosus) based on detecting or altering (e.g.,altering expression or methylation status of) autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 and CD40L). The presentinvention also provides kits for detecting methylation status ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers (e.g., CD70 andCD40L) and for diagnosing, monitoring and/or treating autoimmune orchronic inflammatory diseases.

I. Markers for Autoimmune or Chronic Inflammatory Disease

A. Identification of Markers

The present invention provides markers whose expression is specificallyaltered in autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease. Such markers finduse in the diagnosis and characterization of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease.

Experiments conducted during the development of the present inventionresulted in the identification of genes whose expression level wasaltered (e.g., increased or decreased) in autoimrnune and/or chronicinflammatory disease. In particular, experiments conducted during thedevelopment of the present invention identified methylation patternsassociated with particular genomic sequences that correlate certainclasses of diseases. In particular, the present invention providescompositions, kits, and methods for detecting the methylation status ofone or more of CD70, IgE FCRγ1, CD11a, CD30, CD40L, and CD11c fordiagnostic, drug screening, research, and therapeutic applications.

As reported herein, CD4+ T cell DNA hypomethylation contributes to thedevelopment of drug-induced and idiopathic systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As used herein, the term “DNAmethylation” refers to the methylation of deoxycytosine (dC) bases in CGpairs, and it is one of the mechanisms by which gene expression issuppressed (See, e.g., Attwood et al., Cell Mol Life Sci 59, 241(2002)). CD4+ T cells treated in vitro with the DNA methylationinhibitors 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), procainamide, or hydralazine becomeautoreactive, killing autologous or syngeneic macrophages and promotingantibody production (See, e.g., Cornacchia et al., J Immunol 140, 2197(1988); Richardson et al., Clin Immunol Immunopathol 55, 368 (1990);Quddus et al., J Clin Invest 92, 38 (1993);Yung et al., Arthritis Rheum40, 1436 (1997)). Adoptive transfer of the autoreactive cells causes alupus-like disease (See, e.g., Quddus et al., J Clin Invest 92, 38(1993);Yung et al., Arthritis Rheum 40, 1436 (1997)). The autoreactivityis in part due to an overexpression of the adhesion molecule lymphocytefunction-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1; CD11a/CD18) (See, e.g., Richardsonet al., Arthritis Rheum 37, 1363 (1994); Yung et al., J Clin Invest 97,2866 (1996)), and abnormal perforin expression contributes to themacrophage killing (See, e.g., Kaplan et al., Arthritis Rheum 46, S282(2002); Lu et al., J Immunol 170, 51249 (2003)).

Genomic deoxymethylcytosine (dmC) content is decreased in T cells frompatients with active SLE, similar to that in T cells treated with5-azaC, procainamide, and hydralazine (See, e.g., Richardson et al.,Arthritis Rheum 33, 1665 (1990)). Overexpression of LFA-1 is observed ona CD4+, perforin expressing, cytotoxic, autoreactive lupus T cell subsetwith major histocompatibility complex specificity identical to that of Tcells treated with DNA methylation inhibitors (See, e.g., Kaplan et al.,Arthritis Rheum 46, S282 (2002); Richardson et al., Arthritis Rheum 35,647 (1992)). Furthermore, the same LFA-1 and perforin regulatorysequences are demethylated in CD4+ T cells from patients with activeSLE, similar to results observed in T cells treated with 5-azaC orprocainamide (See, e.g., Kaplan et al., Arthritis Rheum 46, S282 (2002);Lu et al., Arthritis Rheum 46, 1282 (2002)). Together, these studiesshow that T cell DNA hypomethylation is important to the pathogenesis ofautoimmunity in animal models and in humans with drug-induced andidiopathic lupus.

Novel findings reported herein demonstrate methylation-sensitive genesthrough treating phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated human T lymphocyteswith 5-azaC, and the subsequent analysis of gene expression usingoligonucleotide arrays. For example, a gene that reproducibly increasedexpression>2-fold is CD70, also known as CD27 ligand (CD27L) (SeeExample 2, FIGS. 1A and B). Also increased were perforin, CD11a, CD11c,CD30, IgE FCRγ1, CD40L, among others.

CD70 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family that isexpressed on activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and B cells (See e.g., Lenset al., Semin Immunol 10, 491 (1998)). Adding cells transfected withCD70 increases pokeweed mitogen (PWM)—stimulated IgG synthesis in Tcell—dependent B cell assays, indicating that CD70 has Bcell-costimulatory functions resembling those of CD40L (See, e.g.,Kobata et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92, 11249 (1995)). This showsthat T cells overexpressing CD70 as a result of either DNA methylationinhibitor treatment or the DNA hypomethylation associated with lupusprovide additional B cell-costimulatory signals.

CD70 expression is increased on T cells treated with a panel of DNAmethylation inhibitors (See Example 3, FIGS. 2A-J). The DNA methylationinhibitors used included the direct DNA methyltransferase inhibitors5-azaC and procainamide (See, e.g., Scheinbart et al., J Rheumatol 18,530 (1991)), as well as PD98059, U0126, and hydralazine, which decreaseDNA methyltransferase expression by inhibiting ERK pathway signaling(See, e.g., Deng et al., Arthritis Rheum 48, 746 (2003)). While anunderstanding of the mechanism is not necessary to practice the presentinvention and the present invention is not limited to any particularmechanism of action, it is likely that ERK pathway inhibition is morerelevant to idiopathic SLE in humans than is direct DNAmethyltransferase inhibition, because T cells from patients with activelupus have impaired ERK pathway signaling, associated with decreased DNAmethyltransferase levels and hypomethylated DNA (See, e.g., Deng et al.,Arthritis Rheum 44, 397 (2001)).

Hypomethylated T cells overexpressing CD70 overstimulate the productionof IgG by B cells (See Example 4, FIGS. 3 and 4). Initial studiescompared untreated polyclonal T cells with the same cells treated with aDNA methyltransferase inhibitor and a MEK inhibitor. The drug-treatedcells enhanced PWM induced IgG secretion, and the effect was reversedwith anti-CD70, indicating that T cell CD70 overexpression contributesto the increase in IgG synthesis (See Example 4, FIG. 3). Thepossibility that the effects might have been indirect due to effects ofthe drugs on a T cell subset lacking CD70, but requiring CD70+ cells, isunlikely because cloned T cells (tetanus toxoid-reactive human CD4+ Tcell line—TT48E) gave similar results (See Example 4, FIG. 4). Thepossibility that anti-CD70 delivered a suppressive signal through B cellCD70 was tested by pretreating the T cell clones with anti-CD70 beforeadding them to the B cells, thereby resulting in suppressing the IgGresponse (See Example 4, FIG. 4). Controls using LPS and purified Bcells indicate that anti-CD70 does not have a direct suppressive effecton B cells (See Example 4, FIG. 3). Similar results were obtained withthe cloned CD4+ T cell line (See Example 4, FIG. 4). These results, showthat CD70 on T cells contributes to increased B cell IgG production.

Similar studies were performed on T cells from SLE patients. Flowcytometry studies examining CD70 expression on T cells from patientswith active lupus and age-, race-, and sex-matched normal controlsdemonstrated that CD70 was overexpressed on CD4+ T cells from the lupuspatients and that the degree of overexpression was directly proportionalto disease activity (See Example 5, FIG. 5). This is similar to theexpression of CD11a and perforin, two other methylation-sensitive genes,and reflects DNA hypomethylation that characterizes T cells frompatients with active disease (See e.g., Lu et al., Arthritis Rheum 46,1282 (2002); Kaplan et al., J Immunol 172, 3652 (2004), hereinincorporated by reference in their entireties; and Example 7). Again,the observation that T cells treated with DNA methylation inhibitorscaused a lupus-like disease shows that DNA hypomethylation induces theautoimmune disease, rather than just reflecting an effect secondary tothe disease process.

B cells in the peripheral blood of patients with active lupus areabnormally activated and secrete polyclonal IgG (See Example 6, FIG. 6).While some of the antibodies secreted are the autoantibodies usuallyassociated with SLE, other B cells secrete antibodies to antigenspresent on sheep erythrocytes and even keyhole limpet hemocyanin (Seee.g., Fauci et al., Arthritis Rheum 24, 577 (1981)), suggesting thatthere is nonspecific polyclonal activation. T cells from patients withactive lupus stimulated IgG synthesis by autologous B cells in theabsence of added antigen or mitogen (Example 6, FIG. 6), similar to datareported by others (See e.g., Linker-Israeli, et al., Arthritis Rheum33, 1216 (1990)). Pretreatment of the T cells with anti-CD70 abrogatedthis response. These studies show that T cell CD70 is important for theabnormal B cell stimulation in lupus. The present studies also show thatCD70 overexpression on lupus T cells contributes to B cell stimulation,together with other molecules, such as CD40L (See, e.g., Desai-Mehta etal., J Clin Invest 97, 2063 (1996)), and that inhibiting any of thesemolecules is sufficient to decrease the antibody response to normallevels.

Demethylation of promoter regulatory elements within the CD70 promotercontributes to CD70 overexpression in CD4+ lupus T cells. DNA wasisolated from the CD4+ T cells of 7 healthy individuals, bisulfitetreated, and 1000 bp 5′ to the putative CD70 transcription start sitewas amplified by PCR. For each individual, 5 fragments were cloned andsequenced. Each dot on the X axis represents a potentially methylatableCG pair, and the Y axis represents the average methylation of the 35determinations for each point (See Example 7, FIG. 7). The horizontalbar identifies a region containing 6 CG pairs that is demethylated bymethylation inhibitors and in lupus (See Example 7, FIG. 7).

Regulatory elements in the CD70 promoter are hypomethylated inindividuals with active lupus. Bisulfite sequencing implicated 6 CGpairs found within the CD70 promoter in a region −338 to −515 (e.g.,−446 to −515) of the transcriptional start site that were hypomethylatedin lupus patients compared with healthy controls. The averagemethylation status of the 6 CG pairs for healthy versus lupusindividuals is shown (See Example 7, FIG. 8, N and Lupus, respectively).CD4+ T cells from 5 individuals were also stimulated with PHA, treatedwith the irreversible DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine(5-azaC), and the methylation status of the 6 CG pairs similarlyanalyzed from the 25 fragments sequenced (See Example 7, FIG. 8,5-azaC). PHA stimulation has no effect on the methylation status of thisregion. Similar patterns of promoter hypomethylation were observed instimulated T cells treated with the MEK inhibitor PD98059 (3 donors, 15fragments), the competitive DNA methyltransferase inhibitor procainamide(Pca, 4 donors, 20 fragments), the ERK pathway inhibitor hydralazine(Hyd, 3 donors, 15 fragments), or the MEK inhibitor U0126 (2 donors, 10fragments) (See Example 7, FIG. 8, Pca, Hyd, U0126 and PD85059,respectively). Hence, lupus T cells, T cells treated with the lupusinducing drugs Pca and Hyd, and T cells treated with either DNAmethyltransferase inhibitors or ERK pathway inhibitors, all demethylatethis region of the CD70 promoter (See Example 7, FIG. 8).

Thus, the present invention identified methods for diagnosing andmonitoring individuals with autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseases(e.g., SLE or RA) resulting from hypomethylation of the CD70 or CD40Lpromoters or overexpression of CD70 or CD40L on CD4+ T cells. Hence, thepresent invention provides methods for diagnosing or monitoringautoimmune diseases (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)) based ondetecting methylation status of CD70 and/or CD40L. The present inventionalso provides kits for detecting methylation status of CD70, perforin,CD11a, CD11c, CD30, IgE FCRγ1, and CD40L individually, or kits fordetermining the methylation of a combination of two or more of CD70,perforin, CD11a, CD11c, CD30, IgE FCRγ1, CD40L, and for diagnosing ormonitoring autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseases. These methodsand kits find use as diagnostics, in drug screening, in researchapplications, and in monitoring therapies.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the present invention provides amethod for detecting methylation status of CD70, perforin, CD11a, CD11c,CD30, IgE FCRγ1, and/or CD40L in a subject, comprising providing abiological sample from the subject, wherein the biological samplecomprises CD70, perforin, CD11a, CD11c, CD30, IgE FCRγ1, and/or CD40Land exposing the sample to reagents for detecting methylation status ofCD70, perforin, CD11a, CD11c, CD30, IgE FCRγ1, and/or CD40L alone or incombination with other lupus markers (e.g., perforin, CD11a, CD11c,CD30, IgE FCRγ1, CD40L, etc.). The present invention also providesmethods employing IgE FCRγ1, CD11c, CD40L, or CD30 alone or incombination with other markers for characterizing autoimmune of chronicinflammatory diseases.

The present invention also provides a method of diagnosing or monitoringan autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease in a subject, comprising:providing nucleic acid from a subject and detecting the methylationstatus of CD70, alone or in combination with other markers of autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., perforin, CD11a, CD30, CD11c, IgEFCRγ1, CD40L, etc.). The present invention also provides methodsemploying IgE FCRγ1, CD11c, CD40L, or CD30 alone or in combination withother markers.

Several methods are contemplated to be useful in the present inventionto determine methylation status of genes (e.g., CD70 or CD40L). Onemethod is based on the inability of methylation-sensitive restrictionenzymes (MSRE) to cleave sequences that contain one or more methylatedCpGs, followed by Southern Blot (SB) hybridization with probesidentifying fragments after digestion (See, e.g., Ng et al., Blood 89,2500 (1997); Gonzalez et al., Leukemia 14, 183 (2000)). Another methoduses the same background (MSRE) but followed by a PCR (See, e.g., Tasakaet al., Br J Haematol 101, 558 (1998); Gonzalez et al., Leukemia 14, 183(2000)). Gene sequencing has also been used to find methylatedcytosines. In a preferred embodiment, methylation-specific PCR (MSP),based on the modification of cytosine to uracil by bisulfite treatment,is used (See e.g., Herman et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93, 9821(1996); Clark et al., Nuc Acids Res 22, 2990 (1994)). In a particularlypreferred embodiment, fluorogenic probes are used with MSP (See, e.g.,Cottrell and Laird, Ann NY Acad Sci. 983, 120 (2003)). In someembodiments, detecting comprises use of methylation sensitive PCR (See,e.g., Matsuyama et al., Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 31, 4490-4496(2003)). In some embodiments, detecting comprises use of oligonucleotidebinding assays. In other embodiments, the detecting comprises use of amicroarray. In one microarray method, the use of colorimetric silverusing DNA microarrays coupled with linker-PCR is used for detection ofmethylation (See, e.g., Ji et al., Clin Chim Acta. 342, 145 (2004)). Itis not intended that the present invention be limited to any of theseparticular methods of detecting gene methylation status. Indeed, anymethod useful for detecting gene methylation status is contemplated tobe useful in the present invention.

The present invention provides a kit comprising reagents for detectingmethylation status of one or more of CD70 perforin, CD11a, CD11c, CD30,IgE FCRγ1, and CD40L in a subject. The present invention also provideskits for detecting methylation status of CD70, IgE FCRγ1, CD30, CD40L orCD11c alone or in combination with other markers.

The present invention also provides a kit for detecting gene expressionassociated with autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., SLE),comprising reagents for detecting methylation status of CD70 and/orCD40L and a positive control that indicates test results for CD70 and/orCD40L methylation status.

An ˜300 bp fragment of the CD70 (TNFSF7) gene possessing promoteractivity was identified using deletional analysis and transienttransfection of reporter constructs (See, e.g., Example 10, FIG. 11).The promoter region contains binding sites for several transcriptionfactors including AP-1, Sp1, NF-κB and AP-2 (See, FIG. 10). Bisulfitesequencing of primary CD4+ and CD8+ T cells revealed completedemethylation of the promoter sequence, with progressively greatermethylation in the more distal 5′ regions (See, e.g., Example 11, FIG.12). Hypomethylation of regulatory regions is characteristic of atranscriptionally permissive chromatin configuration, and activepromoters are typically hypomethylated (Attwood et al., Cell Mol LifeSci 59:241(2002)). Thus, in some embodiments, the present inventionprovides methods of identifying or characterizing an autoimmune disease(e.g., SLE) based on methylation of the TNFSF7 promoter (See, e.g.,Example 12, FIG. 13). In some embodiments, hypomethylation is correlatedwith active disease. The present invention also provides methods fordetermining a subjects response to therapy. For example, in someembodiments, a subject can be categorized as responding favorably totherapy for autoimmune disease based on an increase in methylation ofCD70 or the TNFSF7 promoter, a decrease in expression of CD70 (e.g.,decreased mRNA or transcript levels) and/or a decrease in the expressionof the CD70 protein. In some embodiments, the methylation status of IgEFCRγ1, CD30, CD40L or CD11c, alone or in combination with other markers,such as CD70, are used to identify or characterize autoimmune disease.

Treating CD4+, but not CD8+, T cells with 2 direct Dnmt inhibitors(5-azaC and Pca) (See, e.g., Friedman et al., Mol Pharmacol19:314(1981); Scheinbart et al., J Rheumatol 18:530 (1991)) or 3 ERKpathway inhibitors (PD98059, U0126 and Hyd) known to decrease Dnmtexpression (Deng et al., Arthritis Rheum 48:746 (2003)), all increasedsteady state levels of CD70 mRNA (See, e.g., Example 13, FIG. 16). Whilea mechanism is not necessary to practice the present invention, and theinvention is not limited to a particular mechanism, it is contemplatedthat, since a property common to all 5 agents is DNA methylationinhibition, that methods of the present invention function to identifyor characterize autoimmune disease comprising the characterizingmethylation status (e.g., demethylation) of sequences affecting geneexpression (e.g., demethylation of genes involved in autoimmunedisease). The present invention identified that all 5 agents testedduring development of the present invention demethylate a sequencelocated within ˜200 bp upstream of the promoter (See, e.g., Example 13,FIGS. 13 and 17). Patch methylation of reporter constructs indicatedthat methylation of the affected region can suppress promoter function,as reflected by transient transfection assays. Thus, in someembodiments, the present invention provides methods of identifying,characterizing/monitoring, or treating a subject having or suspected ofhaving an autoimmune disease comprising characterizing or altering thestatus (e.g., the methylation status or activity) of the CD 70 promoter.In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods for altering(e.g., increase) methylation of genes involved in autoimmune disease(e.g., CD70) in order to treat subjects showing symptoms of autoimmunedisease.

The present invention further provides a method of identifying genesinvolved in autoimmune disease. In some embodiments, the genesidentified are aberrantly expressed due to increased or decreasedmethylation patterns as compared to healthy controls.

B. Detection of Markers of Autoimmune or Chronic Inflammatory Disease

In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods fordetection of expression of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarkers (e.g., SLE or RA markers). In preferred embodiments, expressionis measured directly (e.g., at the RNA or protein level). In someembodiments, expression is detected in tissue samples (e.g., biopsytissue). In other embodiments, expression is detected in bodily fluids(e.g., including but not limited to, plasma, serum, whole blood, mucus,and urine).

For example, using the compositions and methods of the presentinvention, it was determined that treatment with methylation inhibitorsincrease CD40L mRNA (See, e.g., Example 14, FIGS. 18-22). Thus, in someembodiments, the present invention provides methods of identifying orcharacterizing an autoimmune disease (e.g., RA or SLE), or responsethereof to therapy, based on the level of CD40L expression (e.g., mRNAor transcript levels).

The present invention further provides panels and kits for the detectionof markers. In preferred embodiments, the presence of an autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker is used to provide a prognosis to asubject. For example, the detection of high levels of CD70 or CD40L, ascompared to controls, in a sample is indicative of an autoiimmune orchronic inflammatory disease that is active. The information provided isalso used to direct the course of treatment. For example, if a subjectis found to have a marker indicative of a severe state of autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease, additional therapies (e.g.,anti-inflammatories) can be started at a earlier point when they aremore likely to be effective. In addition, if a subject is found to havean autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease that is not responsive toa specific therapy, the expense and inconvenience of such therapies canbe avoided.

The present invention is not limited to the markers described above. Anysuitable marker that correlates with autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease or the progression such disease may be utilized, including butnot limited to, those described in the illustrative examples below(e.g., CD70, CD40L, perforin, CD11a, CD11c, CD30, IgE FCRγ1, etc).Additional markers are also contemplated to be within the scope of thepresent invention. Any suitable method may be utilized to identify andcharacterize autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers suitablefor use in the methods of the present invention, including but notlimited to, those described in illustrative Examples 1-13 below. Forexample, in some embodiments, markers identified as being up ordown-regulated in autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease using the Tcell stimulation and methylation pattern expression methods of thepresent invention are further characterized using tissue microarray,immunohistochemistry, Northern blot analysis, siRNA or antisense RNAinhibition, mutation analysis, investigation of expression with clinicaloutcome, as well as other methods disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides a panel for theanalysis of a plurality of markers. The panel allows for thesimultaneous analysis of multiple markers correlating with autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease. For example, a panel may include markersidentified as correlating with a chronic inflammatory disease but not anautoimmune disease, an autoimmune disease but not a chronic inflammatorydisease, or both, in a subject that is/are likely or not likely torespond to a given treatment. Depending on the subject, panels may beanalyzed alone or in combination in order to provide the best possiblediagnosis and prognosis. Markers for inclusion on a panel are selectedby screening for their predictive value using any suitable method,including but not limited to, those described in the illustrativeexamples below.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides methylationsensitive PCR for identifying or characterizing autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease. In some embodiments, individual markers areanalyzed. In other embodiments, a panel of multiple markers areanalyzed.

In other embodiments, the present invention provides an expressionprofile map comprising expression profiles of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease of various severity or prognoses. Such maps can beused for comparison with patient samples. In some embodimentscomparisons are made using the method described in Example 11. However,the present invention is not limited to the method described in Example11. Any suitable method may be utilized, including but not limited to,by computer comparison of digitized data. The comparison data is used toprovide diagnoses and/or prognoses to patients.

1. Detection of RNA

In some preferred embodiments, detection of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers (e.g., including but not limited to, thosedisclosed herein) is detected by measuring the expression ofcorresponding mRNA in a tissue or other sample (e.g., a blood sample).mRNA expression may be measured by any suitable method, including butnot limited to, those disclosed below.

In some embodiments, RNA is detection by Northern blot analysis.Northern blot analysis involves the separation of RNA and hybridizationof a complementary labeled probe.

In other embodiments, RNA expression is detected by enzymatic cleavageof specific structures (INVADER assay, Third Wave Technologies; Seee.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,846,717, 6,090,543; 6,001,567; 5,985,557; and5,994,069; each of which is herein incorporated by reference). TheINVADER assay detects specific nucleic acid (e.g., RNA) sequences byusing structure-specific enzymes to cleave a complex formed by thehybridization of overlapping oligonucleotide probes.

In still further embodiments, RNA (or corresponding cDNA) is detected byhybridization to an oligonucleotide probe. A variety of hybridizationassays using a variety of technologies for hybridization and detectionare available. For example, in some embodiments, TaqMan assay (PEBiosystems, Foster City, Calif.; See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,962,233 and5,538,848, each of which is herein incorporated by reference) isutilized. The assay is performed during a PCR reaction. The TaqMan assayexploits the 5′-3′ exonuclease activity of the AMPLITAQ GOLD DNApolymerase. A probe consisting of an oligonucleotide with a 5′-reporterdye (e.g., a fluorescent dye) and a 3′-quencher dye is included in thePCR reaction. During PCR, if the probe is bound to its target, the 5′-3′nucleolytic activity of the AMPLITAQ GOLD polymerase cleaves the probebetween the reporter and the quencher dye. The separation of thereporter dye from the quencher dye results in an increase offluorescence. The signal accumulates with each cycle of PCR and can bemonitored with a fluorimeter.

In yet other embodiments, reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) is used todetect the expression of RNA. In RT-PCR, RNA is enzymatically convertedto complementary DNA or “cDNA” using a reverse transcriptase enzyme. ThecDNA is then used as a template for a PCR reaction. PCR products can bedetected by any suitable method, including but not limited to, gelelectrophoresis and staining with a DNA specific stain or hybridizationto a labeled probe. In some embodiments, the quantitative reversetranscriptase PCR with standardized mixtures of competitive templatesmethod described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,639,606, 5,643,765, and 5,876,978(each of which is herein incorporated by reference) is utilized.

2. Detection of Protein

In other embodiments, gene expression of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers is detected by measuring the expression ofthe corresponding protein or polypeptide. Protein expression may bedetected by any suitable method. In some embodiments, proteins aredetected by immunohistochemistry method of Example 5. In otherembodiments, proteins are detected by their binding to an antibodyraised against the protein. The generation of antibodies is describedbelow.

Antibody binding is detected by techniques known in the art (e.g.,radioimmunoassay, ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay), “sandwich”immunoassays, immunoradiometric assays, gel diffusion precipitationreactions, immunodiffusion assays, in situ immunoassays (e.g., usingcolloidal gold, enzyme or radioisotope labels, for example), Westernblots, precipitation reactions, agglutination assays (e.g., gelagglutination assays, hemagglutination assays, etc.), complementfixation assays, immunofluorescence assays, protein A assays, andimmunoelectrophoresis assays, etc.

In one embodiment, antibody binding is detected by detecting a label onthe primary antibody. In another embodiment, the primary antibody isdetected by detecting binding of a secondary antibody or reagent to theprimary antibody. In a further embodiment, the secondary antibody islabeled. Many methods are known in the art for detecting binding in animmunoassay and are within the scope of the present invention.

In some embodiments, an automated detection assay is utilized. Methodsfor the automation of immunoassays include those described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,885,530, 4,981,785, 6,159,750, and 5,358,691, each of which isherein incorporated by reference. In some embodiments, the analysis andpresentation of results is also automated. For example, in someembodiments, software that generates a prognosis based on the presenceor absence of a series of proteins corresponding to autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease markers is utilized.

In other embodiments, the immunoassay described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,599,677 and 5,672,480; each of which is herein incorporated byreference.

3. Data Analysis

In some embodiments, a computer-based analysis program is used totranslate the raw data generated by the detection assay (e.g., thepresence, absence, or amount of a given marker or markers) into data ofpredictive value for a clinician. The clinician can access thepredictive data using any suitable means. Thus, in some preferredembodiments, the present invention provides the further benefit that theclinician, who is not likely to be trained in genetics or molecularbiology, need not understand the raw data. The data is presenteddirectly to the clinician in its most useful form. The clinician is thenable to immediately utilize the information in order to optimize thecare of the subject.

The present invention contemplates any method capable of receiving,processing, and transmitting the information to and from laboratoriesconducting the assays, information provides, medical personal, andsubjects. For example, in some embodiments of the present invention, asample (e.g., a biopsy or a serum or urine sample) is obtained from asubject and submitted to a profiling service (e.g., clinical lab at amedical facility, genomic profiling business, etc.), located in any partof the world (e.g., in a country different than the country where thesubject resides or where the information is ultimately used) to generateraw data. Where the sample comprises a tissue or other biologicalsample, the subject may visit a medical center to have the sampleobtained and sent to the profiling center, or subjects may collect thesample themselves (e.g., a urine sample) and directly send it to aprofiling center. Where the sample comprises previously determinedbiological information, the information may be directly sent to theprofiling service by the subject (e.g., an information card containingthe information may be scanned by a computer and the data transmitted toa computer of the profiling center using an electronic communicationsystems). Once received by the profiling service, the sample isprocessed and a profile is produced (i.e., expression data), specificfor the diagnostic or prognostic information desired for the subject.

The profile data is then prepared in a format suitable forinterpretation by a treating clinician. For example, rather thanproviding raw expression data, the prepared format may represent adiagnosis or risk assessment (e.g., likelihood of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease to respond to a specific therapy) for the subject,along with recommendations for particular treatment options. The datamay be displayed to the clinician by any suitable method. For example,in some embodiments, the profiling service generates a report that canbe printed for the clinician (e.g., at the point of care) or displayedto the clinician on a computer monitor.

In some embodiments, the information is first analyzed at the point ofcare or at a regional facility. The raw data is then sent to a centralprocessing facility for further analysis and/or to convert the raw datato information useful for a clinician or patient. The central processingfacility provides the advantage of privacy (all data is stored in acentral facility with uniform security protocols), speed, and uniformityof data analysis. The central processing facility can then control thefate of the data following treatment of the subject. For example, usingan electronic communication system, the central facility can providedata to the clinician, the subject, or researchers.

In some embodiments, the subject is able to directly access the datausing the electronic communication system. The subject may chose furtherintervention or counseling based on the results. In some embodiments,the data is used for research use. For example, the data may be used tofurther optimize the inclusion or elimination of markers as usefulindicators of a particular condition or severity of disease.

4. Kits

In yet other embodiments, the present invention provides kits for thedetection and characterization of autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease. In some embodiments, the kits contain antibodies specific foran autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker, in addition todetection reagents and buffers. In other embodiments, the kits containreagents specific for the detection of mRNA or cDNA (e.g.,oligonucleotide probes or primers). For example, in some embodiments,the kits contain primers and reagents needed to perform methylationsensitive PCR for detection and characterization of autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease. In preferred embodiments, the kits containall of the components necessary to perform a detection assay, includingall controls, directions for performing assays, and any necessarysoftware for analysis and presentation of results.

5. In vivo Imaging

In some embodiments, in vivo imaging techniques are used to visualizethe expression of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers inan animal (e.g., a human or non-human mammal). For example, in someembodiments, autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker mRNA orprotein is labeled using a labeled antibody specific for the autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease marker. A specifically bound and labeledantibody can be detected in an individual using an in vivo imagingmethod, including, but not limited to, radionuclide imaging, positronemission tomography, computerized axial tomography, X-ray or magneticresonance imaging method, fluorescence detection, and chemiluminescentdetection. Methods for generating antibodies to the autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease markers of the present invention aredescribed below.

The in vivo imaging methods of the present invention are useful in thediagnosis and characterization (e.g., response to treatment) ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease that express the autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease markers of the present invention (e.g.,SLE or RA). In vivo imaging is used to visualize the presence of amarker indicative of the autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease.Such techniques allow for diagnosis without the use of an unpleasantbiopsy. The in vivo imaging methods of the present invention are alsouseful for providing prognoses to autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease patients. For example, the presence of a marker indicative ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease likely to respond to therapycan be detected. The in vivo imaging methods of the present inventioncan further be used to detect sites of inflammation in multiple parts ofthe body.

In some embodiments, reagents (e.g., antibodies) specific for theautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers of the presentinvention are fluorescently labeled. The labeled antibodies areintroduced into a subject (e.g., orally or parenterally). Fluorescentlylabeled antibodies are detected using any suitable method (e.g., usingthe apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,107, herein incorporatedby reference).

In some embodiments, the present invention provides compositions (e.g.,antibodies) and methods of monitoring relapsing-remitting (RR) multiplesclerosis (MS), as conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI)has proved to be a valuable tool to assess the lesion burden andactivity over time (See, e.g., Rovaris and Fillipi, J Rehab Res Dev,Volume 39,243 (2002)). In some embodiments, the present inventionprovides methods of in vivo assessment of lung inflammatory cellactivity in patients with COPD or asthma (See, Eur Respir JApril;21(4):567 (2003). The compositions and methods of the presentinvention are not limited to any particular autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease. Indeed, the compositions and methods of thepresent invention find use in identifying, monitoring and/or treating avariety of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseases including, butnot limited to Autoimmune hepatitis, Multiple Sclerosis, Systemic LupusErythematosus, Myasthenia Gravis, Type I diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis,Psoriasis, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Grave's disease, AnkylosingSpondylitis Sjogrens Disease, CREST syndrome, SclerodermaAtherosclerosis, Congestive Heart Failure, Crohn's disease, UlcerativeColitis, Polyarteritis nodosa, Whipple's Disease, Primary SclerosingCholangitis and many more.

In other embodiments, antibodies are radioactively labeled. The use ofantibodies for in vivo diagnosis is well known in the art. Sumerdon etal., (Nuc. Med. Biol 17:247-254 (1990)) have described an optimizedantibody-chelator for the radioimmunoscintographic imaging of tumorsusing Indium-111 as the label. Griffin et al., (J Clin Onc 9:631-640(1991)) have described the use of this agent in detecting tumors inpatients suspected of having recurrent colorectal cancer. The use ofsimilar agents with paramagnetic ions as labels for magnetic resonanceimaging is known in the art (Lauffer, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine22:339-342 (1991)). The label used will depend on the imaging modalitychosen. Radioactive labels such as Indium-111, Technetium-99m, orIodine-131 can be used for planar scans or single photon emissioncomputed tomography (SPECT). Positron emitting labels such asFluorine-19 can also be used for positron emission tomography (PET). ForMRI, paramagnetic ions such as Gadolinium (III) or Manganese (II) can beused.

Radioactive metals with half-lives ranging from 1 hour to 3.5 days areavailable for conjugation to antibodies, such as scandium-47 (3.5 days)gallium-67 (2.8 days), gallium-68 (68 minutes), technetiium-99m (6hours), and indium-111 (3.2 days), of which gallium-67, technetium-99m,and indium-111 are preferable for gamma camera imaging, gallium-68 ispreferable for positron emission tomography.

A useful method of labeling antibodies with such radiometals is by meansof a bifinctional chelating agent, such as diethylenetriaminepentaaceticacid (DTPA), as described, for example, by Khaw et al. (Science 209:295(1980)) for In-111 and Tc-99m, and by Scheinberg et al. (Science215:1511 (1982)). Other chelating agents may also be used, but the1-(p-carboxymethoxybenzyl)EDTA and the carboxycarbonic anhydride of DTPAare advantageous because their use permits conjugation without affectingthe antibody's immunoreactivity substantially.

Another method for coupling DPTA to proteins is by use of the cyclicanhydride of DTPA, as described by Hnatowich et al. (Int. J. Appl.Radiat. Isot. 33:327 (1982)) for labeling of albumin with In-111, butwhich can be adapted for labeling of antibodies. A suitable method oflabeling antibodies with Tc-99m which does not use chelation with DPTAis the pretinning method of Crockford et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,546,herein incorporated by reference).

A preferred method of labeling immunoglobulins with Tc-99m is thatdescribed by Wong et al. (Int. J. Appl. Radiat. Isot., 29:251 (1978))for plasma protein, and recently applied successfully by Wong et al. (J.Nucl. Med., 23:229 (1981)) for labeling antibodies.

In the case of the radiometals conjugated to the specific antibody, itis likewise desirable to introduce as high a proportion of theradiolabel as possible into the antibody molecule without destroying itsimmunospecificity. A further improvement may be achieved by effectingradiolabeling in the presence of the specific autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker of the present invention, to insure that theantigen binding site on the antibody will be protected. The antigen isseparated after labeling.

In still further embodiments, in vivo biophotonic imaging (XENOGENX,Almeda, Calif.) is utilized for in vivo imaging. This real-time in vivoimaging utilizes luciferase. The luciferase gene is incorporated intocells, microorganisms, and animals (e.g., as a fusion protein with aautoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease marker of the presentinvention). When active, it leads to a reaction that emits light. A CCDcamera and software is used to capture the image and analyze it.

II. Antibodies

The present invention provides isolated antibodies. In preferredembodiments, the present invention provides monoclonal antibodies thatspecifically bind to an isolated polypeptide comprised of at least fiveamino acid residues of the autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarkers described herein (e.g., CD70, CD40L, etc.). These antibodiesfind use in the diagnostic methods described herein.

An antibody against an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseaseprotein of the present invention may be any monoclonal or polyclonalantibody, as long as it can recognize the protein. Antibodies can beproduced by using a protein of the present invention as the antigenaccording to a conventional antibody or antiserum preparation process.

The present invention contemplates the use of both monoclonal andpolyclonal antibodies. Any suitable method may be used to generate theantibodies used in the methods and compositions of the presentinvention, including but not limited to, those disclosed herein. Forexample, for preparation of a monoclonal antibody, protein, as such, ortogether with a suitable carrier or diluent is administered to an animal(e.g., a mammal) under conditions that permit the production ofantibodies. For enhancing the antibody production capability, completeor incomplete Freund's adjuvant may be administered. Normally, theprotein is administered once every 2 weeks to 6 weeks, in total, about 2times to about 10 times. Animals suitable for use in such methodsinclude, but are not limited to, primates, rabbits, dogs, guinea pigs,mice, rats, sheep, goats, etc.

For preparing monoclonal antibody-producing cells, an individual animalwhose antibody titer has been confirmed (e.g., a mouse) is selected, and2 days to 5 days after the final immunization, its spleen or lymph nodeis harvested and antibody-producing cells contained therein are fusedwith myeloma cells to prepare the desired monoclonal antibody producerhybridoma. Measurement of the antibody titer in antiserum can be carriedout, for example, by reacting the labeled protein, as describedhereinafter and antiserum and then measuring the activity of thelabeling agent bound to the antibody. The cell fusion can be carried outaccording to known methods, for example, the method described by Koehlerand Milstein (Nature 256:495 (1975)). As a fusion promoter, for example,polyethylene glycol (PEG) or Sendai virus (HVJ), preferably PEG is used.

Examples of myeloma cells include NS-1, P3U1, SP2/0, AP-1 and the like.The proportion of the number of antibody producer cells (spleen cells)and the number of myeloma cells to be used is preferably about 1:1 toabout 20:1. PEG (preferably PEG 1000-PEG 6000) is preferably added inconcentration of about 10% to about 80%. Cell fusion can be carried outefficiently by incubating a mixture of both cells at about 20° C. toabout 40° C., preferably about 30° C. to about 37° C. for about 1 minuteto 10 minutes.

Various methods may be used for screening for a hybridoma producing theantibody (e.g., against a autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseaseprotein or autoantibody of the present invention). For example, where asupernatant of the hybridoma is added to a solid phase (e.g.,microplate) to which antibody is adsorbed directly or together with acarrier and then an anti-immunoglobulin antibody (if mouse cells areused in cell fusion, anti-mouse immunoglobulin antibody is used) orProtein A labeled with a radioactive substance or an enzyme is added todetect the monoclonal antibody against the protein bound to the solidphase. Alternately, a supernatant of the hybridoma is added to a solidphase to which an anti-immunoglobulin antibody or Protein A is adsorbedand then the protein labeled with a radioactive substance or an enzymeis added to detect the monoclonal antibody against the protein bound tothe solid phase.

Selection of the monoclonal antibody can be carried out according to anyknown method or its modification. Normally, a medium for animal cells towhich HAT (hypoxanthine, aminopterin, thymidine) are added is employed.Any selection and growth medium can be employed as long as the hybridomacan grow. For example, RPMI 1640 medium containing 1% to 20%, preferably10% to 20% fetal bovine serum, GIT medium containing 1% to 10% fetalbovine serum, a serum free medium for cultivation of a hybridoma(SFM-101, Nissui Seiyaku) and the like can be used. Normally, thecultivation is carried out at 20° C. to 40° C., preferably 37° C. forabout 5 days to 3 weeks, preferably 1 week to 2 weeks under about 5% CO₂gas. The antibody titer of the supernatant of a hybridoma culture can bemeasured according to the same manner as described above with respect tothe antibody titer of the anti-protein in the antiserum.

Separation and purification of a monoclonal antibody (e.g., against anautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker of the presentinvention) can be carried out according to the same manner as those ofconventional polyclonal antibodies such as separation and purificationof immunoglobulins, for example, salting-out, alcoholic precipitation,isoelectric point precipitation, electrophoresis, adsorption anddesorption with ion exchangers (e.g., DEAE), ultracentrifugation, gelfiltration, or a specific purification method wherein only an antibodyis collected with an active adsorbent such as an antigen-binding solidphase, Protein A or Protein G and dissociating the binding to obtain theantibody.

Polyclonal antibodies may be prepared by any known method ormodifications of these methods including obtaining antibodies frompatients. For example, a complex of an immunogen (an antigen against theprotein) and a carrier protein is prepared and an animal is immunized bythe complex according to the same manner as that described with respectto the above monoclonal antibody preparation. A material containing theantibody against is recovered from the immunized animal and the antibodyis separated and purified.

As to the complex of the immunogen and the carrier protein to be usedfor immunization of an animal, any carrier protein and any mixingproportion of the carrier and a hapten can be employed as long as anantibody against the hapten, which is crosslinked on the carrier andused for immunization, is produced efficiently. For example, bovineserum albumin, bovine cycloglobulin, keyhole limpet hemocyanin, etc. maybe coupled to an hapten in a weight ratio of about 0.1 part to about 20parts, preferably, about 1 part to about 5 parts per 1 part of thehapten.

In addition, various condensing agents can be used for coupling of ahapten and a carrier. For example, glutaraldehyde, carbodiimide,maleimide activated ester, activated ester reagents containing thiolgroup or dithiopyridyl group, and the like find use with the presentinvention. The condensation product as such or together with a suitablecarrier or diluent is administered to a site of an animal that permitsthe antibody production. For enhancing the antibody productioncapability, complete or incomplete Freund's adjuvant may beadministered. Normally, the protein is administered once every 2 weeksto 6 weeks, in total, about 3 times to about 10 times.

The polyclonal antibody is recovered from blood, ascites and the like,of an animal immunized by the above method. The antibody titer in theantiserum can be measured according to the same manner as that describedabove with respect to the supernatant of the hybridoma culture.Separation and purification of the antibody can be carried out accordingto the same separation and purification method of immunoglobulin as thatdescribed with respect to the above monoclonal antibody.

The protein used herein as the immunogen is not limited to anyparticular type of immunogen. For example, an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker of the present invention (further includinga gene having a nucleotide sequence partly altered) can be used as theimmunogen. Further, fragments of the protein may be used. Fragments maybe obtained by any methods including, but not limited to expressing afragment of the gene, enzymatic processing of the protein, chemicalsynthesis, and the like.

III. Drug Screening

In some embodiments, the present invention provides drug screeningassays (e.g., to screen for anti-autoimmune or anti-chronic inflammatorydisease drugs). The screening methods of the present invention utilizeautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers identified using themethods of the present invention (e.g., including but not limited to,CD70, CD40L, perforin, CD11a, CD30, CD11c, and IgE FCRγ1). For example,in some embodiments, the present invention provides methods of screeningfor compound that alter (e.g., increase or decrease) the expression ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker genes. In someembodiments, candidate compounds are antisense agents (e.g.,oligonucleotides) directed against autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease markers. See Section IV below for a discussion of antisensetherapy. In other embodiments, candidate compounds are antibodies thatspecifically bind to an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker of the present invention.

In one screening method, candidate compounds are evaluated for theirability to alter autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerexpression by contacting a compound with a cell expressing a autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease marker and then assaying for the effectof the candidate compounds on expression. In some embodiments, theeffect of candidate compounds on expression of an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker gene is assayed for by detecting the levelof autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker mRNA expressed bythe cell. mRNA expression can be detected by any suitable method (e.g.,by the methods discussed in Examples 8 and 12 below. In otherembodiments, the effect of candidate compounds on expression ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker genes is assayed bymeasuring the level of polypeptide encoded by the autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers (See, e.g., Example 3). The level ofpolypeptide expressed can be measured using any suitable method,including but not limited to, those disclosed herein.

Specifically, the present invention provides screening methods foridentifying modulators, i.e., candidate or test compounds or agents(e.g., proteins, peptides, peptidomimetics, peptoids, small molecules orother drugs) which bind to autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarkers of the present invention, have an inhibitory (or stimulatory)effect on, for example, autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker expression or autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markersactivity, or have a stimulatory or inhibitory effect on, for example,the expression or activity of an autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker substrate. Compounds thus identified can be used tomodulate the activity of target gene products (e.g., autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker genes) either directly or indirectlyin a therapeutic protocol, to elaborate the biological function of thetarget gene product, or to identify compounds that disrupt normal targetgene interactions. Compounds which inhibit the activity or expression ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers are useful in thetreatment of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., SLE, RA,MS, etc.)

In one embodiment, the invention provides assays for screening candidateor test compounds that are substrates of an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker protein or polypeptide or a biologicallyactive portion thereof. In another embodiment, the invention providesassays for screening candidate or test compounds that bind to ormodulate the activity of an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker protein or polypeptide or a biologically active portion thereof.

The test compounds of the present invention can be obtained using any ofthe numerous approaches in combinatorial library methods known in theart, including biological libraries; peptoid libraries (libraries ofmolecules having the functionalities of peptides, but with a novel,non-peptide backbone, which are resistant to enzymatic degradation butwhich nevertheless remain bioactive; see, e.g., Zuckennann et al., J.Med. Chem. 37: 2678-85 (1994)); spatially addressable parallel solidphase or solution phase libraries; synthetic library methods requiringdeconvolution; the ‘one-bead one-compound’ library method; and syntheticlibrary methods using affinity chromatography selection. The biologicallibrary and peptoid library approaches are preferred for use withpeptide libraries, while the other four approaches are applicable topeptide, non-peptide oligomer or small molecule libraries of compounds(Lam (1997) Anticancer Drug Des. 12:145).

Examples of methods for the synthesis of molecular libraries can befound in the art, for example in: DeWitt et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A. 90:6909 (1993); Erb et al., Proc. Nad. Acad. Sci. USA 91:11422(1994); Zuckermann et al., J. Med. Chem. 37:2678 (1994); Cho et al.,Science 261:1303 (1993); Carrell et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl.33.2059 (1994); Carell et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 33:2061(1994); and Gallop et al., J. Med. Chem. 37:1233 (1994).

Libraries of compounds may be presented in solution (e.g., Houghten,Biotechniques 13:412-421 (1992)), or on beads (Lam, Nature 354:82-84(1991)), chips (Fodor, Nature 364:555-556 (1993)), bacteria or spores(U.S. Patent No. 5,223,409; herein incorporated by reference), plasmids(Cull et al., Proc. Nad. Acad. Sci. USA 89:18651869 (1992)) or on phage(Scott and Smith, Science 249:386-390 (1990); Devlin Science 249:404-406(1990); Cwirla et al., Proc. NatI. Acad. Sci. 87:6378-6382 (1990);Felici, J. Mol. Biol. 222:301 (1991)).

In one embodiment, an assay is a cell-based assay in which a cell thatexpresses an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker proteinor biologically active portion thereof is contacted with a testcompound, and the ability of the test compound to modulate theautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker's activity isdetermined. Determining the ability of the test compound to modulateautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker activity can beaccomplished by monitoring, for example, B cell stimulation or changesin enzymatic activity. The cell, for example, can be of mammalianorigin.

The ability of the test compound to modulate autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker binding to a compound, e.g., an autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease marker substrate, can also be evaluated.This can be accomplished, for example, by coupling the compound, e.g.,the substrate, with a radioisotope or enzymatic label such that bindingof the compound, e.g., the substrate, to an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker can be determined by detecting the labeledcompound, e.g., substrate, in a complex.

Alternatively, the autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker iscoupled with a radioisotope or enzymatic label to monitor the ability ofa test compound to modulate autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker binding to an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerssubstrate in a complex. For example, compounds (e.g., substrates) can belabeled with ¹²⁵I, ³⁵S ¹⁴C or ³H, either directly or indirectly, and theradioisotope detected by direct counting of radioemmission or byscintillation counting. Alternatively, compounds can be enzymaticallylabeled with, for example, horseradish peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase,or luciferase, and the enzymatic label detected by determination ofconversion of an appropriate substrate to product.

The ability of a compound (e.g., an autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker substrate) to interact with an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker with or without the labeling of any of theinteractants can be evaluated. For example, a microphysiorneter can beused to detect the interaction of a compound with an autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker without the labeling of either thecompound or the autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker(McConnell et al. Science 257:1906-1912 (1992)). As used herein, a“microphysiometer” (e.g., Cytosensor) is an analytical instrument thatmeasures the rate at which a cell acidifies its environment using alight-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS). Changes in thisacidification rate can be used as an indicator of the interactionbetween a compound and autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarkers.

In yet another embodiment, a cell-free assay is provided in which anautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker protein orbiologically active portion thereof is contacted with a test compoundand the ability of the test compound to bind to the autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker protein or biologically activeportion thereof is evaluated. Preferred biologically active portions ofthe autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers proteins to beused in assays of the present invention include fragments thatparticipate in interactions with substrates or other proteins, e.g.,fragments with high surface probability scores.

Cell-free assays involve preparing a reaction mixture of the autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease target gene protein and the testcompound under conditions and for a time sufficient to allow the twocomponents to interact and bind, thus forming a complex that can beremoved and/or detected.

The interaction between two molecules can also be detected, e.g., usingfluorescence energy transfer (FRET) (see, for example, Lakowicz et al.,U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,169; Stavrianopoulos et al., U.S. Pat. No.4,968,103; each of which is herein incorporated by reference). Afluorophore label is selected such that a first donor molecule's emittedfluorescent energy will be absorbed by a fluorescent label on a second,‘acceptor’ molecule, which in turn is able to fluoresce due to theabsorbed energy.

Alternately, the ‘donor’ protein molecule may simply utilize the naturalfluorescent energy of tryptophan residues. Labels are chosen that emitdifferent wavelengths of light, such that the ‘acceptor’ molecule labelmay be differentiated from that of the ‘donor’. Since the efficiency ofenergy transfer between the labels is related to the distance separatingthe molecules, the spatial relationship between the molecules can beassessed. In a situation in which binding occurs between the molecules,the fluorescent emission of the ‘acceptor’ molecule label in 15 theassay should be maximal. An FRET binding event can be convenientlymeasured through standard fluorometric detection means well known in theart (e.g., using a fluorimeter).

In another embodiment, determining the ability of the autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker proteins to bind to a targetmolecule can be accomplished using real-time Biomolecular InteractionAnalysis (BIA) (see, e.g., Sjolander and Urbaniczky, Anal. Chem.63:2338-2345 (1991) and Szabo et al. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 5:699-705(1995)). “Surface plasmon resonance” or “BIA” detects biospecificinteractions in real time, without labeling any of the interactants(e.g., BIACORE). Changes in the mass at the binding surface (indicativeof a binding event) result in alterations of the refractive index oflight near the surface (the optical phenomenon of surface plasmonresonance (SPR)), resulting in a detectable signal that can be used asan indication of real-time reactions between biological molecules.

In one embodiment, the target gene product or the test substance isanchored onto a solid phase. The target gene product/test compoundcomplexes anchored on the solid phase can be detected at the end of thereaction. Preferably, the target gene product can be anchored onto asolid surface, and the test compound, (which is not anchored), can belabeled, either directly or indirectly, with detectable labels discussedherein.

It may be desirable to immobilize autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease markers, an anti- autoimmune or anti-chronic inflammatorydisease marker antibody or its target molecule to facilitate separationof complexed from non-complexed forms of one or both of the proteins, aswell as to accommodate automation of the assay. Binding of a testcompound to an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerprotein, or interaction of an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker protein with a target molecule in the presence and absence of acandidate compound, can be accomplished in any vessel suitable forcontaining the reactants. Examples of such vessels include microtiterplates, test tubes, and micro-centrifuge tubes. In one embodiment, afusion protein can be provided which adds a domain that allows one orboth of the proteins to be bound to a matrix. For example,glutathione-S-transferase-autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker fusion proteins or glutathione-S-transferase/target fusionproteins can be adsorbed onto glutathione Sepharose beads(SIGMA-ALDRICH, St. Louis, Mo.) or glutathione-derivatized microtiterplates, which are then combined with the test compound or the testcompound and either the non-adsorbed target protein or autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker protein, and the mixture incubatedunder conditions conducive for complex formation (e.g., at physiologicalconditions for salt and pH). Following incubation, the beads ormicrotiter plate wells are washed to remove any unbound components, thematrix immobilized in the case of beads, complex determined eitherdirectly or indirectly, for example, as described above.

Alternatively, the complexes can be dissociated from the matrix, and thelevel of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers binding oractivity determined using standard techniques. Other techniques forimmobilizing either autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerproteins or a target molecule on matrices include using conjugation ofbiotin and streptavidin. Biotinylated autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker protein or target molecules can be prepared frombiotin-NHS (N-hydroxy-succinimide) using techniques known in the art(e.g., biotinylation kit, Pierce Chemicals, Rockford, EL), andimmobilized in the wells of streptavidin-coated 96 well plates (PierceChemical).

In order to conduct the assay, the non-immobilized component is added tothe coated surface containing the anchored component. After the reactionis complete, unreacted components are removed (e.g., by washing) underconditions such that any complexes formed will remain immobilized on thesolid surface. The detection of complexes anchored on the solid surfacecan be accomplished in a number of ways. Where the previouslynon-immobilized component is pre-labeled, the detection of labelimmobilized on the surface indicates that complexes were formed. Wherethe previously non-immobilized component is not pre-labeled, an indirectlabel can be used to detect complexes anchored on the surface; e.g.,using a labeled antibody specific for the immobilized component (theantibody, in turn, can be directly labeled or indirectly labeled with,e.g., a labeled anti-IgG antibody).

This assay is performed utilizing antibodies reactive with autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker protein or target molecules butwhich do not interfere with binding of the autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker proteins to its target molecule. Suchantibodies can be derivatized to the wells of the plate, and unboundtarget or autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker proteinstrapped in the wells by antibody conjugation. Methods for detecting suchcomplexes, in addition to those described above for the GST-immobilizedcomplexes, include immunodetection of complexes using antibodiesreactive with the autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerprotein or target molecule, as well as enzyme-linked assays which relyon detecting an enzymatic activity associated with the autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker protein or target molecule.

Alternatively, cell free assays can be conducted in a liquid phase. Insuch an assay, the reaction products are separated from unreactedcomponents, by any of a number of standard techniques, including, butnot limited to: differential centrifugation (see, for example, Rivas andMinton, Trends Biochem Sci 18:284-7 (1993)); chromatography (gelfiltration chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography); electrophoresis(see, e.g., Ausubel et al., eds. Current Protocols in Molecular Biology1999, J. Wiley: New York.); and immunoprecipitation (see, for example,Ausubel et al., eds. Current Protocols in Molecular Biology 1999, J.Wiley: New York). Such resins and chromatographic techniques are knownto one skilled in the art (See e.g., Heegaard J. Mol. Recognit 11:141-8(1998); Hageand Tweed J. Chromatogr. Biomed. Sci. Appl 699:499-525(1997)). Further, fluorescence energy transfer may also be convenientlyutilized, as described herein, to detect binding without furtherpurification of the complex from solution.

The assay can include contacting the autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker protein or biologically active portion thereof with aknown compound that binds the autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker to form an assay mixture, contacting the assay mixture with atest compound, and determining the ability of the test compound tointeract with an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerprotein, wherein determining the ability of the test compound tointeract with an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerprotein includes determining the ability of the test compound topreferentially bind to autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarkers or biologically active portion thereof, or to modulate theactivity of a target molecule, as compared to the known compound.

To the extent that autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerscan, in vivo, interact with one or more cellular or extracellularmacromolecules, such as proteins, inhibitors of such an interaction areuseful. A homogeneous assay can be used can be used to identifyinhibitors.

For example, a preformed complex of the target gene product and theinteractive cellular or extracellular binding partner product isprepared such that either the target gene products or their bindingpartners are labeled, but the signal generated by the label is quencheddue to complex formation (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,496, hereinincorporated by reference, that utilizes this approach forimmunoassays). The addition of a test substance that competes with anddisplaces one of the species from the preformed complex will result inthe generation of a signal above background. In this way, testsubstances that disrupt target gene product-binding partner interactioncan be identified. Alternatively, autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker protein can be used as a “bait protein” in a two-hybridassay or three-hybrid assay (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,317; Zervoset al., Cell 72:223-232 (1993); Madura et al., J. Biol. Chem.268.12046-12054 (1993); Bartel et al., Biotechniques 14:920-924 (1993);Iwabuchi et al., Oncogene 8:1693-1696 (1993); and Brent WO 94/10300;each of which is herein incorporated by reference), to identify otherproteins, that bind to or interact with autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers (“autoimmune disease- or chronicinflammatory disease-binding proteins”) and are involved in autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease marker activity. Such autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker-binding proteins can be activatorsor inhibitors of signals by the autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker proteins or targets as, for example, downstream elementsof an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers-mediatedsignaling pathway.

Modulators of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerexpression can also be identified. For example, a cell or cell freemixture is contacted with a candidate compound and the expression ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker mRNA or proteinevaluated relative to the level of expression of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker mRNA or protein in the absence of thecandidate compound. When expression of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker mRNA or protein is greater in the presenceof the candidate compound than in its absence, the candidate compound isidentified as a stimulator of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker mRNA or protein expression. Alternatively, when expression ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker mRNA or protein isless (i.e., statistically significantly less) in the presence of thecandidate compound than in its absence, the candidate compound isidentified as an inhibitor of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker mRNA or protein expression. The level of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease marker mRNA or protein expression can be determinedby methods described herein for detecting autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers mRNA or protein.

A modulating agent can be identified using a cell-based or a cell freeassay, and the ability of the agent to modulate the activity of anautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease marker protein can beconfirmed in vivo, e.g., in an animal such as an animal model for adisease (e.g., an animal with lupus or arthritis) or T cells from anautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease subject, or cells from anautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease cell line.

This invention further pertains to novel agents identified by theabove-described screening assays (See e.g., below description ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease therapies). Accordingly, itis within the scope of this invention to further use an agent identifiedas described herein (e.g., an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker modulating agent, an antisense autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker nucleic acid molecule, a siRNA molecule, an autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease marker specific antibody, or an autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease marker-binding partner) in anappropriate animal model (such as those described herein) to determinethe efficacy, toxicity, side effects, or mechanism of action, oftreatment with such an agent. Furthermore, novel agents identified bythe above-described screening assays can be, e.g., used for treatmentsas described herein.

IV. Autoimmune and/or Chronic Inflammatory Disease Therapies

In some embodiments, the present invention provides therapies forautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., SLE or RA). In someembodiments, therapies target autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarkers (e.g., including but not limited to, CD70, perforin, IgE FCRγ1,CD30, CD40L or CD11c).

A. Antisense Therapies

In some embodiments, the present invention targets the expression ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers. For example, in someembodiments, the present invention employs compositions comprisingoligomeric antisense compounds, particularly oligonucleotides (e.g.,those identified in the drug screening methods described above), for usein modulating the function of nucleic acid molecules encoding autoimmuneor chronic inflammatory disease markers of the present invention,ultimately modulating the amount of autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease marker expressed. This is accomplished by providing antisensecompounds that specifically hybridize with one or more nucleic acidsencoding autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers of thepresent invention. The specific hybridization of an oligomeric compoundwith its target nucleic acid interferes with the normal function of thenucleic acid. This modulation of function of a target nucleic acid bycompounds that specifically hybridize to it is generally referred to as“antisense.” The functions of DNA to be interfered with includereplication and transcription (e.g., via transcription factor decoys).The functions of RNA to be interfered with include all vital functionssuch as, for example, translocation of the RNA to the site of proteintranslation, translation of protein from the RNA, splicing of the RNA toyield one or more mRNA species, and catalytic activity that may beengaged in or facilitated by the RNA. The overall effect of suchinterference with target nucleic acid function is modulation of theexpression of autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markers of thepresent invention. In the context of the present invention, “modulation”means either an increase (stimulation) or a decrease (inhibition) in theexpression of a gene. For example, expression may be inhibited topotentially prevent inflammation or arthritis. For example, any meansmay be used to for modulation including RNAi (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.6,897,069, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/397,943, filed Mar.26, 2003, herein incorporated by reference in their entireties for allpurposes).

It is preferred to target specific nucleic acids for antisense.“Targeting” an antisense compound to a particular nucleic acid, in thecontext of the present invention, is a multistep process. The processusually begins with the identification of a nucleic acid sequence whosefunction is to be modulated. This may be, for example, a cellular gene(or mRNA transcribed from the gene) whose expression is associated witha particular disorder or disease state, or a nucleic acid molecule froman infectious agent. In the present invention, the target is a nucleicacid molecule encoding an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker of the present invention. The targeting process also includesdetermination of a site or sites within this gene for the antisenseinteraction to occur such that the desired effect, e.g., detection ormodulation of expression of the protein, will result. Within the contextof the present invention, a preferred intragenic site is the regionencompassing the translation initiation or termination codon of the openreading frame (ORF) of the gene. Since the translation initiation codonis typically 5′-AUG (in transcribed mRNA molecules; 5′-ATG in thecorresponding DNA molecule), the translation initiation codon is alsoreferred to as the “AUG codon,” the “start codon” or the “AUG startcodon”. A minority of genes have a translation initiation codon havingthe RNA sequence 5′-GUG, 5′-UUG or 5′-CUG, and 5′-AUA, 5′-ACG and 5′-CUGhave been shown to function in vivo. Thus, the terms “translationinitiation codon” and “start codon” can encompass many codon sequences,even though the initiator amino acid in each instance is typicallymethionine (in eukaryotes) or formylmethionine (in prokaryotes).Eukaryotic and prokaryotic genes may have two or more alternative startcodons, any one of which may be preferentially utilized for translationinitiation in a particular cell type or tissue, or under a particularset of conditions. In the context of the present invention, “startcodon” and “translation initiation codon” refer to the codon or codonsthat are used in vivo to initiate translation of an mRNA moleculetranscribed from a gene encoding a tumor antigen of the presentinvention, regardless of the sequence(s) of such codons.

Translation termination codon (or “stop codon”) of a gene may have oneof three sequences (i.e., 5′-UAA, 5′-UAG and 5′-UGA; the correspondingDNA sequences are 5′-TAA, 5′-TAG and 5′-TGA, respectively). The terms“start codon region” and “translation initiation codon region” refer toa portion of such an mRNA or gene that encompasses from about 25 toabout 50 contiguous nucleotides in either direction (i.e., 5′ or 3′)from a translation initiation codon. Similarly, the terms “stop codonregion” and “translation termination codon region” refer to a portion ofsuch an mRNA or gene that encompasses from about 25 to about 50contiguous nucleotides in either direction (i.e., 5′ or 3′) from atranslation termination codon.

The open reading frame (ORF) or “coding region,” which refers to theregion between the translation initiation codon and the translationtermination codon, is also a region that may be targeted effectively.Other target regions include the 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR),referring to the portion of an mRNA in the 5′ direction from thetranslation initiation codon, and thus including nucleotides between the5′ cap site and the translation initiation codon of an mRNA orcorresponding nucleotides on the gene, and the 3′ untranslated region(3′ UTR), referring to the portion of an mRNA in the 3′ direction fromthe translation termination codon, and thus including nucleotidesbetween the translation termination codon and 3′ end of an mRNA orcorresponding nucleotides on the gene. The 5′ cap of an mRNA comprisesan N7-methylated guanosine residue joined to the 5′-most residue of themRNA via a 5′-5′ triphosphate linkage. The 5′ cap region of an mRNA isconsidered to include the 5′ cap structure itself as well as the first50 nucleotides adjacent to the cap. The cap region may also be apreferred target region.

Although some eukaryotic mRNA transcripts are directly translated, manycontain one or more regions, known as “introns,” that are excised from atranscript before it is translated. The remaining (and thereforetranslated) regions are known as “exons” and are spliced together toform a continuous mRNA sequence. mRNA splice sites (i.e., intron-exonjunctions) may also be preferred target regions, and are particularlyuseful in situations where aberrant splicing is implicated in disease,or where an overproduction of a particular mRNA splice product isimplicated in disease. Aberrant fusion junctions due to rearrangementsor deletions are also preferred targets. It has also been found thatintrons can also be effective, and therefore preferred, target regionsfor antisense compounds targeted, for example, to DNA or pre-mRNA.

In some embodiments, target sites for antisense inhibition areidentified using commercially available software programs (e.g.,Biognostik, Gottingen, Germany; SysArris Software, Bangalore, India;Antisense Research Group, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England;GeneTrove, Carlsbad, Calif.). In other embodiments, target sites forantisense inhibition are identified using the accessible site methoddescribed in U.S. Patent WO0198537A2, herein incorporated by reference.

Once one or more target sites have been identified, oligonucleotides arechosen that are sufficiently complementary to the target (i.e.,hybridize sufficiently well and with sufficient specificity) to give thedesired effect. For example, in preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, antisense oligonucleotides are targeted to or near the startcodon.

In the context of this invention, “hybridization,” with respect toantisense compositions and methods, means hydrogen bonding, which may beWatson-Crick, Hoogsteen or reversed Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding, betweencomplementary nucleoside or nucleotide bases. For example, adenine andthymine are complementary nucleobases that pair through the formation ofhydrogen bonds. It is understood that the sequence of an antisensecompound need not be 100% complementary to that of its target nucleicacid to be specifically hybridizable. An antisense compound isspecifically hybridizable when binding of the compound to the target DNAor RNA molecule interferes with the normal function of the target DNA orRNA to cause a loss of utility, and there is a sufficient degree ofcomplementarity to avoid non-specific binding of the antisense compoundto non-target sequences under conditions in which specific binding isdesired (i.e., under physiological conditions in the case of in vivoassays or therapeutic treatment, and in the case of in vitro assays,under conditions in which the assays are performed).

Antisense compounds are commonly used as research reagents anddiagnostics. For example, antisense oligonucleotides, which are able toinhibit gene expression with specificity, can be used to elucidate thefunction of particular genes. Antisense compounds are also used, forexample, to distinguish between functions of various members of abiological pathway.

The specificity and sensitivity of antisense is also applied fortherapeutic uses. For example, antisense oligonucleotides have beenemployed as therapeutic moieties in the treatment of disease states inanimals and man. Antisense oligonucleotides have been safely andeffectively administered to humans and numerous clinical trials arepresently underway. It is thus established that oligonucleotides areuseful therapeutic modalities that can be configured to be useful intreatment regimes for treatment of cells, tissues, and animals,especially humans.

While antisense oligonucleotides are a preferred form of antisensecompound, the present invention comprehends other oligomeric antisensecompounds, including but not limited to oligonucleotide mimetics such asare described below. The antisense compounds in accordance with thisinvention preferably comprise from about 8 to about 30 nucleobases(i.e., from about 8 to about 30 linked bases), although both longer andshorter sequences may find use with the present invention. Particularlypreferred antisense compounds are antisense oligonucleotides, even morepreferably those comprising from about 12 to about 25 nucleobases.

Specific examples of preferred antisense compounds useful with thepresent invention include oligonucleotides containing modified backbonesor non-natural intemucleoside linkages. As defined in thisspecification, oligonucleotides having modified backbones include thosethat retain a phosphorus atom in the backbone and those that do not havea phosphorus atom in the backbone. For the purposes of thisspecification, modified oligonucleotides that do not have a phosphorusatom in their intemucleoside backbone can also be considered to beoligonucleosides.

Preferred modified oligonucleotide backbones include, for example,phosphorothioates, chiral phosphorothioates, phosphorodithioates,phosphotriesters, aminoalkylphosphotriesters, methyl and other alkylphosphonates including 3′-alkylene phosphonates and chiral phosphonates,phosphinates, phosphoramidates including 3′-amino phosphoramidate andaminoalkylphosphoramidates, thionophosphoramidates,thionoalkylphosphonates, thionoalkylphosphotriesters, andboranophosphates having normal 3′-5′ linkages, 2′-5′ linked analogs ofthese, and those having inverted polarity wherein the adjacent pairs ofnucleoside units are linked 3′-5′ to 5′-3′ or 2′-5′ to 5′-2′. Varioussalts, mixed salts and free acid form are also included.

Preferred modified oligonucleotide backbones that do not include aphosphorus atom therein have backbones that are formed by short chainalkyl or cycloalkyl intemucleoside linkages, mixed heteroatom and alkylor cycloalkyl intemucleoside linkages, or one or more short chainheteroatomic or heterocyclic internucleoside linkages. These includethose having morpholino linkages (formed in part from the sugar portionof a nucleoside); siloxane backbones; sulfide, sulfoxide and sulfonebackbones; formacetyl and thioformacetyl backbones; methylene formacetyland thioformacetyl backbones; alkene containing backbones; sulfamatebackbones; methyleneimino and methylenehydrazino backbones; sulfonateand sulfonamide backbones; amide backbones; and others having mixed N,O, S and CH₂ component parts.

In other preferred oligonucleotide mimetics, both the sugar and theinternucleoside linkage (i.e., the backbone) of the nucleotide units arereplaced with novel groups. The base units are maintained forhybridization with an appropriate nucleic acid target compound. One sucholigomeric compound, an oligonucleotide mimetic that has been shown tohave excellent hybridization properties, is referred to as a peptidenucleic acid (PNA). In PNA compounds, the sugar-backbone of anoligonucleotide is replaced with an amide containing backbone, inparticular an aminoethylglycine backbone. The nucleobases are retainedand are bound directly or indirectly to aza nitrogen atoms of the amideportion of the backbone. Representative United States patents that teachthe preparation of PNA compounds include, but are not limited to, U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,539,082; 5,714,331; and 5,719,262, each of which is hereinincorporated by reference. Further teaching of PNA compounds can befound in Nielsen et al., Science 254:1497 (1991).

Most preferred embodiments of the invention are oligonucleotides withphosphorothioate backbones and oligonucleosides with heteroatombackbones, and in particular —CH₂, —NH—O—CH₂—, —CH₂—N(CH₃)—O—CH₂— (knownas a methylene (methylimino) or MMI backbone), —CH₂—O—N(CH₃)—CH₂—,—CH₂—N(CH₃)—N(CH₃)—CH₂—, and —O—N(CH₃)—CH₂—CH₂— (wherein the nativephosphodiester backbone is represented as —O—P—O—CH₂—) of the abovereferenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,677, and the amide backbones of the abovereferenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,240. Also preferred are oligonucleotideshaving morpholino backbone structures of the above-referenced U.S. Pat.No. 5,034,506.

Modified oligonucleotides may also contain one or more substituted sugarmoieties. Preferred oligonucleotides comprise one of the following atthe 2′ position: OH; F; O—, S—, or N-alkyl; O—, S—, or N-alkenyl; O—, S—or N-alkynyl; or O-alkyl-O-alkyl, wherein the alkyl, alkenyl and alkynylmay be substituted or unsubstituted C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl or C₂ to C₁₀ alkenyland alkynyl. Particularly preferred are O((CH₂)_(n)O)_(m)CH₃,O(CH₂)_(n)OCH₃, O(CH₂)_(n)NH₂O(CH₂)_(n)CH₃, O(CH₂)_(n)ONH₂, andO(CH₂)_(n)ON((CH₂)_(n)CH₃))₂, where n and m are from 1 to about 10.Other preferred oligonucleotides comprise one of the following at the 2′position: C₁ to C₁₀ lower alkyl, substituted lower alkyl, alkaryl,aralkyl, O-alkaryl or O-aralkyl, SH, SCH₃, OCN, Cl, Br, CN, CF₃, OCF₃,SOCH₃, SO₂CH₃, ONO₂, NO₂, N₃, NH₂, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkaryl,aminoalkylamino, polyalkylamino, substituted silyl, an RNA cleavinggroup, a reporter group, an intercalator, a group for improving thepharmacokinetic properties of an oligonucleotide, or a group forimproving the pharmacodynamic properties of an oligonucleotide, andother substituents having similar properties. A preferred modificationincludes 2′-methoxyethoxy (2′-O—CH₂CH₂OCH₃, also known as2′-O-(2-methoxyethyl) or 2′-MOE) (Martin et al., Helv. Chim. Acta 78:486(1995)) i.e., an alkoxyalkoxy group. A further preferred modificationincludes 2′-dimethylaminooxyethoxy (i.e., a O(CH₂)₂ON(CH₃)₂ group), alsoknown as 2′-DMAOE, and 2′-dimethylaminoethoxyethoxy (also known in theart as 2′-O-dimethylaminoethoxyethyl or 2′-DMAEOE), i.e.,2′-O—CH₂—O—CH₂—N(CH₂)₂.

Other preferred modifications include 2′-methoxy(2′-O—CH₃),2′-aminopropoxy(2′-OCH₂CH₂CH₂NH₂) and 2′-fluoro (2′-F). Similarmodifications may also be made at other positions on theoligonucleotide, particularly the 3′ position of the sugar on the 3′terminal nucleotide or in 2′-5′ linked oligonucleotides and the 5′position of 5′ terminal nucleotide. Oligonucleotides may also have sugarmimetics such as cyclobutyl moieties in place of the pentofuranosylsugar.

Oligonucleotides may also include nucleobase (often referred to in theart simply as “base”) modifications or substitutions. As used herein,“unmodified” or “natural” nucleobases include the purine bases adenine(A) and guanine (G), and the pyrimidine bases thymine (T), cytosine (C)and uracil (U). Modified nucleobases include other synthetic and naturalnucleobases such as 5-methylcytosine (5-me-C), 5-hydroxymethyl cytosine,xanthine, hypoxanthine, 2-aminoadenine, 6-methyl and other alkylderivatives of adenine and guanine, 2-propyl and other alkyl derivativesof adenine and guanine, 2-thiouracil, 2-thiothymine and 2-thiocytosine,5-halouracil and cytosine, 5-propynyl uracil and cytosine, 6-azo uracil,cytosine and thymine, 5-uracil (pseudouracil), 4-thiouracil, 8-halo,8-amino, 8-thiol, 8-thioalkyl, 8-hydroxyl and other 8-substitutedadenines and guanines, 5-halo particularly 5-bromo, 5-trifluoromethyland other 5-substituted uracils and cytosines, 7-methylguanine and7-methyladenine, 8-azaguanine and 8-azaadenine, 7-deazaguanine and7-deazaadenine and 3-deazaguanine and 3-deazaadenine. Furthernucleobases include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,808. Certainof these nucleobases are particularly useful for increasing the bindingaffinity of the oligomeric compounds of the invention. These include5-substituted pyrimidines, 6-azapyrimidines and N-2, N-6 and O-6substituted purines, including 2-aminopropyladenine, 5-propynyluraciland 5-propynylcytosine. 5-methylcytosine substitutions have been shownto increase nucleic acid duplex stability by 0.6-1.2. degree ° C. andare presently preferred base substitutions, even more particularly whencombined with 2′-O-methoxyethyl sugar modifications.

Another modification of the oligonucleotides of the present inventioninvolves chemically linking to the oligonucleotide one or more moietiesor conjugates that enhance the activity, cellular distribution orcellular uptake of the oligonucleotide. Such moieties include but arenot limited to lipid moieties such as a cholesterol moiety, cholic acid,a thioether, (e.g., hexyl-S-tritylthiol), a thiocholesterol, analiphatic chain, (e.g., dodecandiol or undecyl residues), aphospholipid, (e.g., di-hexadecyl-rac-glycerol or triethylammonium1,2-di-O-hexadecyl-rac-glycero-3-H-phosphonate), a polyamine or apolyethylene glycol chain or adamantane acetic acid, a palmityl moiety,or an octadecylamine or hexylamino-carbonyl-oxycholesterol moiety.

One skilled in the relevant art knows well how to generateoligonucleotides containing the above-described modifications. Thepresent invention is not limited to the antisensce oligonucleotidesdescribed above. Any suitable modification or substitution may beutilized.

It is not necessary for all positions in a given compound to beuniformly modified, and in fact more than one of the aforementionedmodifications may be incorporated in a single compound or even at asingle nucleoside within an oligonucleotide. The present invention alsoincludes antisense compounds that are chimeric compounds. “Chimeric”antisense compounds or “chimeras,” in the context of the presentinvention, are antisense compounds, particularly oligonucleotides, whichcontain two or more chemically distinct regions, each made up of atleast one monomer unit, i.e., a nucleotide in the case of anoligonucleotide compound. These oligonucleotides typically contain atleast one region wherein the oligonucleotide is modified so as to conferupon the oligonucleotide increased resistance to nuclease degradation,increased cellular uptake, and/or increased binding affinity for thetarget nucleic acid. An additional region of the oligonucleotide mayserve as a substrate for enzymes capable of cleaving RNA:DNA or RNA:RNAhybrids. By way of example, RNaseH is a cellular endonuclease thatcleaves the RNA strand of an RNA:DNA duplex. Activation of RNase H,therefore, results in cleavage of the RNA target, thereby greatlyenhancing the efficiency of oligonucleotide inhibition of geneexpression. Consequently, comparable results can often be obtained withshorter oligonucleotides when chimeric oligonucleotides are used,compared to phosphorothioate deoxyoligonucleotides hybridizing to thesame target region. Cleavage of the RNA target can be routinely detectedby gel electrophoresis and, if necessary, associated nucleic acidhybridization techniques known in the art.

Chimeric antisense compounds of the present invention may be formed ascomposite structures of two or more oligonucleotides, modifiedoligonucleotides, oligonucleosides and/or oligonucleotide mimetics asdescribed above.

The present invention also includes pharmaceutical compositions andformulations that include the antisense compounds of the presentinvention as described below.

B. Genetic Therapies

The present invention contemplates the use of any genetic manipulationfor use in modulating the expression of autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease markers of the present invention. Examples ofgenetic manipulation include, but are not limited to, gene knockout(e.g., removing the autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease markergene from the chromosome using, for example, recombination), expressionof antisense constructs with or without inducible promoters, and thelike. Delivery of nucleic acid construct to cells in vitro or in vivomay be conducted using any suitable method. A suitable method is onethat introduces the nucleic acid construct into the cell such that thedesired event occurs (e.g., expression of an antisense construct).

Introduction of molecules carrying genetic information into cells isachieved by any of various methods including, but not limited to,directed injection of naked DNA constructs, bombardment with goldparticles loaded with said constructs, and macromolecule mediated genetransfer using, for example, liposomes, biopolymers, and the like.Preferred methods use gene delivery vehicles derived from viruses,including, but not limited to, adenoviruses, retroviruses, vacciniaviruses, and adeno-associated viruses. Because of the higher efficiencyas compared to retroviruses, vectors derived from adenoviruses are thepreferred gene delivery vehicles for transferring nucleic acid moleculesinto host cells in vivo. Examples of adenoviral vectors and methods forgene transfer are described in PCT publications WO 00/12738 and WO00/09675 and U.S. patent application Nos. 6,033,908, 6,019,978,6,001,557, 5,994,132, 5,994,128, 5,994,106, 5,981,225, 5,885,808,5,872,154, 5,830,730, and 5,824,544, each of which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

Vectors may be administered to subject in a variety of ways. Forexample, in some embodiments, administration is via the blood orlymphatic circulation (See e.g., PCT publication 99/02685 hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety). Exemplary dose levels ofadenoviral vector are preferably 10⁸ to 10¹¹ vector particles added tothe perfusate.

C. Antibody Therapy

In some embodiments, the present invention provides antibodies thattarget cells that express an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker of the present invention (e.g., CD70, CD40L, CD11a, CD11c, etc.).Any suitable antibody (e.g., monoclonal, polyclonal, or synthetic) maybe utilized in the therapeutic methods disclosed herein. In preferredembodiments, the antibodies used for autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease therapy are humanized antibodies. Methods for humanizingantibodies are well known in the art (See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos.6,180,370, 5,585,089, 6,054,297, and 5,565,332; each of which is hereinincorporated by reference).

In some embodiments, the therapeutic antibodies comprise an antibodygenerated against an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease markerof the present invention, wherein the antibody is conjugated to acytotoxic agent. In some embodiments, an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease specific therapeutic agent is generated that doesnot target normal cells, thus reducing many of the detrimental sideeffects of traditional chemotherapy. For certain applications, it isenvisioned that the therapeutic agents will be pharmacologic agents thatwill serve as useful agents for attachment to antibodies, particularlycytotoxic or otherwise anticellular agents having the ability to kill orsuppress the growth or cell division of autoreactive cells (e.g.,autoreactive T and B cells). The present invention contemplates the useof any pharmacologic agent that can be conjugated to an antibody, anddelivered in active form.

Exemplary anticellular agents include chemotherapeutic agents,radioisotopes, and cytotoxins.

The therapeutic antibodies of the present invention may include avariety of cytotoxic moieties, including but not limited to, radioactiveisotopes (e.g., iodine-131, iodine-123, technicium-99m, indium-111,rhenium-188, rhenium-186, gallium-67, copper-67, yttrium-90, iodine-125or astatine-211), hormones such as a steroid, antimetabolites such ascytosines (e.g., arabinoside, fluorouracil, methotrexate or aminopterin;an anthracycline; mitomycin C), vinca alkaloids (e.g., demecolcine;etoposide; mithramycin), and antitumor alkylating agent such aschlorambucil or melphalan. Other embodiments may include agents such asa coagulant, a cytokine, growth factor, bacterial endotoxin or the lipidA moiety of bacterial endotoxin. For example, in some embodiments,therapeutic agents will include plant-, fungus- or bacteria-derivedtoxin, such as an A chain toxins, a ribosome inactivating protein,α-sarcin, aspergillin, restrictocin, a ribonuclease, diphtheria toxin orpseudomonas exotoxin, to mention just a few examples. In some preferredembodiments, deglycosylated ricin A chain is utilized.

In any event, it is proposed that agents such as these may, if desired,be successfully conjugated to an antibody, in a manner that will allowtheir targeting, internalization, release or presentation to bloodcomponents at the site of the targeted autoimmune or chronicinflammatory diseased cells as required using known conjugationtechnology (See, e.g., Ghose et al., Methods Enzymol., 93:280 (1983)).

For example, in some embodiments the present invention providesimmunotoxins targeted an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker of the present invention (e.g., hepsin, pim-1, EZH2, Annexin,CTBP, GP73, and AMACR). Immunotoxins are conjugates of a specifictargeting agent typically a tumor-directed antibody or fragment, with acytotoxic agent, such as a toxin moiety. The targeting agent directs thetoxin to, and thereby selectively kills, cells carrying the targetedantigen. In some embodiments, therapeutic antibodies employ crosslinkersthat provide high in vivo stability (Thorpe et al., Cancer Res., 48:6396(1988)).

In preferred embodiments, antibody based therapeutics are formulated aspharmaceutical compositions as described below. In preferredembodiments, administration of an antibody composition of the presentinvention results in a measurable decrease in autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease (e.g., decrease or elimination T cellautoreactivity).

D. Pharmaceutical Compositions

The present invention further provides pharmaceutical compositions(e.g., comprising the antisense or antibody compounds described above).The pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention may beadministered in a number of ways depending upon whether local orsystemic treatment is desired and upon the area to be treated.Administration may be topical (including ophthalmic and to mucousmembranes including vaginal and rectal delivery), pulmonary (e.g., byinhalation or insufflation of powders or aerosols, including bynebulizer; intratracheal, intranasal, epidermal and transdermal), oralor parenteral. Parenteral administration includes intravenous,intraarterial, subcutaneous, intraperitoneal or intramuscular injectionor infusion; or intracranial, e.g., intrathecal or intraventricular,administration.

Pharmaceutical compositions and formulations for topical administrationmay include transdermal patches, ointments, lotions, creams, gels,drops, suppositories, sprays, liquids and powders. Conventionalpharmaceutical carriers, aqueous, powder or oily bases, thickeners andthe like may be necessary or desirable.

Compositions and formulations for oral administration include powders orgranules, suspensions or solutions in water or non-aqueous media,capsules, sachets or tablets. Thickeners, flavoring agents, diluents,emulsifiers, dispersing aids or binders may be desirable.

Compositions and formulations for parenteral, intrathecal orintraventricular administration may include sterile aqueous solutionsthat may also contain buffers, diluents and other suitable additivessuch as, but not limited to, penetration enhancers, carrier compoundsand other pharmaceutically acceptable carriers or excipients.

Pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention include, but arenot limited to, solutions, emulsions, and liposome-containingformulations. These compositions may be generated from a variety ofcomponents that include, but are not limited to, preformed liquids,self-emulsifying solids and self-emulsifying semisolids.

The pharmaceutical formulations of the present invention, which mayconveniently be presented in unit dosage form, may be prepared accordingto conventional techniques well known in the pharmaceutical industry.Such techniques include the step of bringing into association the activeingredients with the pharmaceutical carrier(s) or excipient(s). Ingeneral the formulations are prepared by uniformly and intimatelybringing into association the active ingredients with liquid carriers orfinely divided solid carriers or both, and then, if necessary, shapingthe product.

The compositions of the present invention may be formulated into any ofmany possible dosage forms such as, but not limited to, tablets,capsules, liquid syrups, soft gels, suppositories, and enemas. Thecompositions of the present invention may also be formulated assuspensions in aqueous, non-aqueous or mixed media. Aqueous suspensionsmay further contain substances that increase the viscosity of thesuspension including, for example, sodium carboxymethylcellulose,sorbitol and/or dextran. The suspension may also contain stabilizers.

In one embodiment of the present invention the pharmaceuticalcompositions may be formulated and used as foams. Pharmaceutical foamsinclude formulations such as, but not limited to, emulsions,microemulsions, creams, jellies and liposomes. While basically similarin nature these formulations vary in the components and the consistencyof the final product.

Agents that enhance uptake of oligonucleotides at the cellular level mayalso be added to the pharmaceutical and other compositions of thepresent invention. For example, cationic lipids, such as lipofectin(U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,188), cationic glycerol derivatives, andpolycationic molecules, such as polylysine (WO 97/30731), also enhancethe cellular uptake of oligonucleotides.

The compositions of the present invention may additionally contain otheradjunct components conventionally found in pharmaceutical compositions.Thus, for example, the compositions may contain additional, compatible,pharmaceutically-active materials such as, for example, antipruritics,astringents, local anesthetics or anti-inflammatory agents, or maycontain additional materials useful in physically formulating variousdosage forms of the compositions of the present invention, such as dyes,flavoring agents, preservatives, antioxidants, opacifiers, thickeningagents and stabilizers. However, such materials, when added, should notunduly interfere with the biological activities of the components of thecompositions of the present invention. The formulations can besterilized and, if desired, mixed with auxiliary agents, e.g.,lubricants, preservatives, stabilizers, wetting agents, emulsifiers,salts for influencing osmotic pressure, buffers, colorings, flavoringsand/or aromatic substances and the like which do not deleteriouslyinteract with the nucleic acid(s) of the formulation.

Dosing is dependent on severity and responsiveness of the autoimmune orchronic inflammatory disease state to be treated, with the course oftreatment lasting from several days to several months, or until a cureis effected or a diminution of the disease state is achieved. Optimaldosing schedules can be calculated from measurements of drugaccumulation in the body of the patient. The administering physician caneasily determine optimum dosages, dosing methodologies and repetitionrates. Optimum dosages may vary depending on the relative potency ofindividual oligonucleotides, and can generally be estimated based onEC₅₀s found to be effective in in vitro and in vivo animal models orbased on the examples described herein. In general, dosage is from 0.01μg to 100 g per kg of body weight, and may be given once or more daily,weekly, monthly or yearly. The treating physician can estimaterepetition rates for dosing based on measured residence times andconcentrations of the drug in bodily fluids or tissues. Followingsuccessful treatment, it may be desirable to have the subject undergomaintenance therapy to prevent the recurrence of the disease state,wherein the oligonucleotide is administered in maintenance doses,ranging from 0.01 μg to 100 g per kg of body weight, once or more daily,to once every 20 years.

V. Transgenic Animals Expressing Autoimmune or Chronic InflammatoryDisease Marker Genes

The present invention contemplates the generation of transgenic animalscomprising an exogenous autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseasemarker gene of the present invention or mutants and variants thereof(e.g., truncations or single nucleotide polymorphisms). In preferredembodiments, the transgenic animal displays an altered phenotype (e.g.,increased or decreased presence of markers) as compared to wild-typeanimals. Methods for analyzing the presence or absence of suchphenotypes include but are not limited to, those disclosed herein. Insome preferred embodiments, the transgenic animals further display anincreased or decreased inflammation or arthritis or evidence ofautoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease.

The transgenic animals of the present invention find use in drug (e.g.,autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease therapy) screens. In someembodiments, test compounds (e.g., a drug that is suspected of beinguseful to treat autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease) and controlcompounds (e.g., a placebo) are administered to the transgenic animalsand the control animals and the effects evaluated.

The transgenic animals can be generated via a variety of methods. Insome embodiments, embryonal cells at various developmental stages areused to introduce transgenes for the production of transgenic animals.Different methods are used depending on the stage of development of theembryonal cell. The zygote is the best target for micro-injection. Inthe mouse, the male pronucleus reaches the size of approximately 20micrometers in diameter that allows reproducible injection of 1-2picoliters (pl) of DNA solution. The use of zygotes as a target for genetransfer has a major advantage in that in most cases the injected DNAwill be incorporated into the host genome before the first cleavage(Brinster et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:4438-4442 (1985)). As aconsequence, all cells of the transgenic non-human animal will carry theincorporated transgene. This will in general also be reflected in theefficient transmission of the transgene to offspring of the foundersince 50% of the germ cells will harbor the transgene. U.S. Pat. No.4,873,191 describes a method for the micro-injection of zygotes; thedisclosure of this patent is incorporated herein in its entirety.

In other embodiments, retroviral infection is used to introducetransgenes into a non-human animal. In some embodiments, the retroviralvector is utilized to transfect oocytes by injecting the retroviralvector into the perivitelline space of the oocyte (U.S. Pat. No.6,080,912, incorporated herein by reference). In other embodiments, thedeveloping non-human embryo can be cultured in vitro to the blastocyststage. During this time, the blastomeres can be targets for retroviralinfection (Janenich, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 73:1260 (1976)).Efficient infection of the blastomeres is obtained by enzymatictreatment to remove the zona pellucida (Hogan et al., in Manipulatingthe Mouse Embryo, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold SpringHarbor, N.Y. (1986)). The viral vector system used to introduce thetransgene is typically a replication-defective retrovirus carrying thetransgene (Jahner et al., Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA 82:6927 (1985)).Transfection is easily and efficiently obtained by culturing theblastomeres on a monolayer of virus-producing cells (Stewart, et al.,EMBO J., 6:383 (1987)). Alternatively, infection can be performed at alater stage. Virus or virus-producing cells can be injected into theblastocoele (Jahner et al., Nature 298:623 (1982)). Most of the founderswill be mosaic for the transgene since incorporation occurs only in asubset of cells that form the transgenic animal. Further, the foundermay contain various retroviral insertions of the transgene at differentpositions in the genome that generally will segregate in the offspring.In addition, it is also possible to introduce transgenes into thegermline, albeit with low efficiency, by intrauterine retroviralinfection of the midgestation embryo (Jahner et al., supra (1982)).Additional means of using retroviruses or retroviral vectors to createtransgenic animals known to the art involve the micro-injection ofretroviral particles or mitomycin C-treated cells producing retrovirusinto the perivitelline space of fertilized eggs or early embryos (PCTInternational Application WO 90/08832 (1990), and Haskell and Bowen,Mol. Reprod. Dev., 40:386 (1995)).

In other embodiments, the transgene is introduced into embryonic stemcells and the transfected stem cells are utilized to form an embryo. EScells are obtained by culturing pre-implantation embryos in vitro underappropriate conditions (Evans et al., Nature 292:154 (1981); Bradley etal., Nature 309:255 (1984); Gossler et al., Proc. Acad. Sci. USA 83:9065(1986); and Robertson et al., Nature 322:445 (1986)). Transgenes can beefficiently introduced into the ES cells by DNA transfection by avariety of methods known to the art including calcium phosphateco-precipitation, protoplast or spheroplast fusion, lipofection andDEAE-dextran-mediated transfection. Transgenes may also be introducedinto ES cells by retrovirus-mediated transduction or by micro-injection.Such transfected ES cells can thereafter colonize an embryo followingtheir introduction into the blastocoel of a blastocyst-stage embryo andcontribute to the germ line of the resulting chimeric animal (forreview, See, Jaenisch, Science 240:1468 (1988)). Prior to theintroduction of transfected ES cells into the blastocoel, thetransfected ES cells may be subjected to various selection protocols toenrich for ES cells which have integrated the transgene assuming thatthe transgene provides a means for such selection. Alternatively, thepolymerase chain reaction may be used to screen for ES cells that haveintegrated the transgene. This technique obviates the need for growth ofthe transfected ES cells under appropriate selective conditions prior totransfer into the blastocoel.

In still other embodiments, homologous recombination is utilized toknock-out gene function or create deletion mutants (e.g., truncationmutants). Methods for homologous recombination are described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,614,396, incorporated herein by reference.

Experimental

The following examples are provided in order to demonstrate and furtherillustrate certain preferred embodiments and aspects of the presentinvention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof.

In the experimental disclosure that follows, the following abbreviationsapply: g (grams); mg (milligrams); μg (micrograms); ng (nanograms); 1 orL (liters); ml (milliliters); μl (microliters); cm (centimeters); mm(millimeters); μm (micrometers); nm (nanometers); ° C. (degreesCentigrade); U (units), kb (kilobase); bp (base pair); hr (hour); min(minute); FALCON (FALCON, Franklin Lakes, N.J.); REMEL (REMEL, Inc.,Lenexa, Kans.); SIGMA-ALDRICH (SIGMA-ALDRICH, St. Louis, Mo.); PROMEGA(PROMEGA, Madison, Wis.); ROCHE (ROCHE, Indianapolis, Ind.); PHARMINGEN(BD-PHARMINGEN, San Diego, Calif.); Miltenyi (Miltenyi Biotec,Sunnyvale/Auburn, Calif.); COSTAR (Corning Inc., Acton, Mass.); DAKO(DAKOCYTOMATLON, Glostrup, Denmark); Southern Biotech, (SouthernBiotechnology Associates, Inc Birmingham Ala.), MOLECULAR DEVICES(MOLECULAR DEVICES Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif.); SYSTAT (SYSTAT SoftwareInc., Richmond, Calif.); and Corbett (Corbett Research, SydneyAustralia).

EXAMPLE 1 Materials and Methods

Subjects. Subjects of the present invention were of two groups (See,e.g., Table 1 and Table 2). For one of the groups, systemic lupuserythematosus (SLE) patients were recruited from the outpatient andinpatient services at the University of Michigan. For the second group,SLE and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were recruited from theoutpatient Rheumatology clinics and inpatient services at the Universityof Michigan. For both groups, age-, race-, and sex-matched controlsubjects were recruited by advertising. The study protocols wereapproved by the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board.Patients with SLE and RA met the American College of Rheumatologycriteria for these diseases (See, e.g., Tan et al., Arthritis Rheum 25,1271 (1982); Arnett et al., Arthritis Rheum 31, 315-324 (1987)), and SLEdisease activity was assessed by the SLE-Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI)(See, e.g., Bombardier et al., Arthritis Rheum 35, 360 (1992)). Activedisease was defined as a SLEDAI score≧5. Relevant clinical informationregarding the study subjects is shown in Tables 1 and 2.

TABLE 1 SLEDAI score Age/race/ or Patient sex diagnosis Medications SLEpatients  1 49/W/F 6 HCQ  2 28/B/F 10 MMF 2 gm, HCQ, Pred. 15 mg/day  338/B/F 10 MMF 2.5 gm, HCQ, Pred. 12 mg/day  4 25/W/F 7 Pred. 5 mg/day  525/W/M 5 HCQ, Pred. 5 mg/day  6 53/W/F 12 Pred. 60 mg/day  7 23/W/F 12HCQ, Pred. 20 mg/day  8 30/W/F 8 MMF 2.5 gm, HCQ, Pred. 20 mg/day  931/W/F 6 MMF 2 gm, HCQ, quinacrine, Pred. 10 mg/day 10 24/W/F 8 MMF 2gm, HCQ, Pred. 36 mg/day 11 41/W/F 10 Pred. 15 mg/day 12 54/W/F 2 HCQ 1338/W/F 0 Pred. 1.5 mg/day 14 43/W/F 0 Pred. 5 mg/day, MTX, MMF Controlpatients 15 65/W/F Dermatomyositis Pred. 10 mg/day, MTX, MMF 16 39/W/FCNS vasculitis Pred. 15 mg/day, CYC 17 34/W/F WG Pred. 40 mg/day, CYC,etanercept SLEDAI (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index);HCQ (hydroxychloroquine); MMF (mycophenolate mofetil); Pred.(prednisone); MTX (methotrexate); CNS (central nervous system); CYC(cyclophosphamide); WG (Wegener's granulomatosis).

TABLE 2 Paitent Age/Race/Gender SLEDAI/Dx Medications 1 32/W/F 2Quin/Plaq/MTX/Pred 7.5 2 40/W/F 4 Leflunomide 3 31/W/F 4 Quin/Plaq 456/W/F 2 Pred 10 5 30/H/F 4 MM 2.0 q/Pred 10 6 40/B/F 6 MM 2.0/Pred 5 747/W/F 8 Methylprednisolone 60 8 23/W/F 6 MM 1.5/Pred 5 9 54/W/F 8Azathioprine/Pred 5 10 28/B/F 8 Plaq/Pred 5 11 21/W/F 12  Plaq/MM1.0/Pred 10 12 60/W/F RA MTX 13 54/A/F RA MTX 14 54/W/F RA none^(a)Quin. quinacrine; Plaq. plaquenil; MTX, methotrexate; Pred.prednisone; MM, mycophenylate mofetil.

Cells and cell culture. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) wereisolated by density-gradient centrifugation. T cells were then isolatedby E-rosetting (See, e.g., Golbus et al., Clin Immunol Immunopathol 46,129 (1988)). Purity, assessed by staining with fluoresceinisothiocyanate (FITC)conjugated anti-CD3 and flow cytometry, wastypically 87-94%. Where indicated, the cells were cultured in RPMI1640/10% fetal calf serum (FCS) supplemented with interleukin-2 (IL-2)(See, e.g., Richardson et al., Clin Immunol Immunopathol 55, 368(1990)), in round-bottomed 5-ml culture tubes (FALCON). Cells werestimulated with 1 μg /ml of PHA (REMEL) for 16 hours, then cultured in24-well plates at a density of 1×10⁶ for an additional 72 hours in thepresence of 2-deoxy-5-azaC or 5-azaC (SIGMA-ALDRICH), procainamide(SIGMA-ALDRICH), hydralazine (SIGMA-ALDRICH), or the MEK inhibitorsU0126 (PROMEGA) or PD98059 (PROMEGA). In other studies, PHA-stimulatedPBMCs were cultured in RPMI 1640/10% FCS and treated with indomethacin,chloroquine, hydrocortisone, and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) (all fromSIGMA-ALDRICH). TT48E, a cloned, CD4+, tetanus toxoidreactive human Tcell line, was cultured as previously described (Comacchia et al., JImmunol 140, 2197 (1988); Richardson et al., Arthritis Rheum 35, 647(1992)).

In other studies, T cells were isolated by negative selection usingmagnetic beads and instructions provided by the manufacturer (Pan T cellIsolation Kit, Miltenyi), and the CD4+ or CD8+ subset was similarlyisolated by magnetic cell sorting. Jurkat cells (E6-1) were cultured aspreviously described (See, e.g., Cornacchia et al., J Immunol 140:2197(1998)). Purified human CD4+ T cells were first stimulated with platebound anti-CD3 and soluble anti-CD28. Briefly, 24 well plates werecoated with 300 μl of anti-CD3 (10 μg/ml in PBS-SouthernBiotech) 18hours 4° C., washed, then 2×10⁶ purified T cells were added to the wellsin 2 ml RPMI 1640/10% FCS containing 2 μg/ml anti-CD28 (SouthemBiotech).The plates were incubated 37° C. in a humidified atmosphere containing5% CO₂ for 18-24 hours, then treated with 5 μm 5-azaC (ALDRICH), 50 μmPca (SIGMA), 20 μm Hyd (ALDRICH), 40 μm UO126 (PROMEGA) or 25 μm PD98059(PROMEGA), and cultured for 3 additional days as described (See, e.g.,Oelke et al., Arthritis Rheum 50:1850 (2004)).

Oligonucleotide array analysis. Messenger RNA (mRNA) was isolated fromuntreated or 2-deoxy-5-azaC—treated T cell, and analyzed usingAFFYMETRIX U95A oligonucleotide arrays (See, e,g., Lu et al., J Immunol170, 5124 (2003)).

Real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). CD70transcripts were quantitated by real time RT-PCR using a LIGHTCYCLER(ROOCHE) or a ROTOR-GENE 3000 (Corbett) according to previouslypublished protocols (See, e.g., lu et al., J Immunol 170, 5124 (2003);Oelke et al., Arthritis Rheum 50:1850 (2004)). CD70 mRNA levels werequantitated relative to β-actin transcripts (See, e.g., Lu et al., JImmunol 170, 5124 (2003)). The following primers were used: forward,5′-TGCTTTGGTCCCATTGGTCG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 13) and reverse,5′-TCCTGCTGAGGTCCTGTGTGATTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 14); β-actin forward:5′-GGACTTCGAGCAAGAGATGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 15), Reverse:5′-AGCACTGTGTTGGCGTACAG (SEQ ID NO: 16).

Flow cttometric analysis. The following fluorochrome-conjugatedmonoclomal antibodies were obtained from BD PHARMINGEN (San Diego,Calif.): FITC-conjugated anti-human CD70, CD2, or isotype-matchedcontrols; phycoerythrin (PE)—conjugated anti-CD2, CD4,and CD8; andCyChromeconjugated anti-HLA-DR, CD2, and isotype controls. Staining andmulticolor flow cytometric analysis were performed (See, e.g., Hale etal., Cell Immunol 220, 51 (2002)) using saturating concentrations ofantibody.

T cell and B cell costimulation assays. E-rosette-purified T cells werestimulated for 16 hours with PHA and then treated with the indicatechemicals for an additional 72 hours as described above. Whereindicated, T cell subsets were isolated by negative selection usingmagnetic beads (Miltenyi). B cells (1-4×10⁵) enriched by negativeselection using magnetic beads (Miltenyi) and assessed to be 70-85% pureusing PE-conjugated anti-human CD21 (PHARMINGEN), were added to washed,drug-treated autologous T cells, at T cell to B cell ratios of4:1, 2:1,1:1, 1:2, and 1:4. Where indicated, 0.625 μg/ml of PWM (ALDRICH) wasadded. The cells were cultured in RPMI 1640/10%FBS/penicillinlstreptomycin for 8 days in 96-well roundbottomed plates(Costar) containing a 200 μl total volume (performed in duplicate).Cells were supplemented with 50 μl of medium on day 4. Where indicated,1 μg/ml of anti-CD70 monoclonal antibody (HNE51) (DAKO) was added to thecultures. TT48E cells were similarly stimulated with PHA (1 μg/ml )for18 hours, treated with the indicated drugs for 3 days, then similarlycultured with autologous B cells for 8 days. Where indicated, the TT48Ecells were pretreated with 1 μg/ml of anti-CD70 for 30 minutes at 4° C.,then washed and added to the B cells, according to protocols describedby others (See, e.g., Kobata et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92, 11249(1995)).

CD4+ T cells were similarly isolated from lupus patients by firstpurifying the T cells by E-rosetting, then depleting the CD8+ T cellsusing magnetic beads (Miltenyi). These cells were then similarlycultured with purified autologous B cells. Where indicated, the T cellswere pretreated with anti-CD70.

IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). IgG was measured in thesupernatants of the T cell-B cell cultures (See, e.g., Richardson etal., Clin Immunol Immunopathol 55, 368 (1990)). Briefly, 96-wellflatbottomed polystyrene plates (Costar) were coated with 1 μg/ml ofgoat anti-human IgG (Southern Biotech) and washed. Unreacted combiningsites were sealed with 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) by incubation at 4° C. for 16 hours. Pooledsupernatants from duplicate wells were diluted 1:5 in PBS/1% BSA, and 50μl was added to the wells. Serial dilutions of purified human IgG(Sigma) were used for quantitation. Following incubation and washing,goat anti-human IgG conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (SouthernBiotech) was added, and cells were incubated for 2 hours at roomtemperature. The wells were washed 3 times with PBS/0.1% Tween 20, andcolor was developed using Sigma Fast tablets. The plates were read at405 nm using a SpectraMax spectrophotometer (Molecular Devices). Alldeterminations were performed in quadruplicate.

Statistical analysis. The difference between means was tested byStudent's unpaired t-test or ANOVA with post hoc testing using theBonferroni correction. Power, regression analyses, and analysis ofvariance were performed using Systat 10 software (Richmond, Calif.).

Bisulfite sequencing. The putative CD70 promoter was identified usingthe published CD70 cDNA sequence and Tfsitescan software. Deoxycytosine(dC) and deoxymethylcytosine (d^(m)C) bases in the gene promoter and 5′flanking sequences were identified by bisulfite treatment of purifiedDNA followed by nested PCR amplification of 3 sequential fragments tospan the entire region. The primers were designed to avoid CG pairs andto account for the conversion of dC to dU by the bisulfite. EcoRI siteswere added to the forward primers, and XbaI to the reverse, tofacilitate cloning. The amplified fragments were then cloned into PBS+,and 5 clones sequenced for each fragment. The primers used were:

Fragment 1:

Round I:

Forward Primer (−291˜−256): SEQ ID NO: 1

Reverse Primer (+400˜+436): SEQ ID NO: 2

Round II:

Forward Primer (−211˜−175): SEQ ID NO: 3

Reverse Primer (−5˜+29): SEQ ID NO: 4

Fragment 2:

Round I:

Forward Primer (−609˜−580): SEQ ID NO: 5

Reverse Primer (−278˜−242): SEQ ID NO: 6

Round II:

Forward Primer (−581˜−545): SEQ ID NO: 7

Reverse Primer (−330˜−288): SEQ ID NO: 8

Fragment 3:

Round I:

Forward Primer (−966˜−931): SEQ ID NO: 9

Reverse Primer (−543˜−580): SEQ ID NO: 10

Round II:

Forward Primer (−956˜−920): SEQ ID NO: 11

Reverse Primer (−567˜−603): SEQ ID NO: 12

Promoter characterization: A 1018 bp fragment containing the TNFSF7promoter and predicted transcription start site, identified usingTfsitescan software, was amplified from primary human CD4+ T cells byPCR using the following primers, numbered relative to the predictedtranscription start site:

Forward (−966): GCTCTCGAGGTGAAAACCCATCTCTAC (SEQ ID NO:17) Reverse(+52): TCCAAGCTTTCTACTTGCTTCAACCTG (SEQ ID NO:18)

The forward primer contains an XhoI site at the 5′ end, and the reversea HindIII site at the 3′ end. The amplified fragment was cloned intopGL3-Basic, and sequenced by the University of Michigan DNA SequencingCore to exclude Taq error.

TNFSF7 promoter constructs with 5′ deletions were generated by PCRamplification of genomic DNA using the following forward primers:

F1(−966): GCTCTCGAGGTGAAAACCCATCTCTAC (SEQ ID NO:17) F2(−572):CAGCTCGAGCAACATGGTGAAACC (SEQ ID NO:19) F3(−321):ATTCTCGAGTGTCTGCTGTATCC, (SEQ ID NO:20) all with an XhoI site added.

In all cases the reverse primer was: TCCAAGCTTTCTACTTGCTTCAACCTG (SEQ IDNO: 18) with a HindIII site added. These primer combinations generatedfragments of 1018 bp (−966 to +52), 624 bp (−572 to 52), and 412 bp(−360 to 52), respectively. The promoter fragments were digested withXhoI and HindIII and inserted upstream of a luc reporter gene in thepGL3 vector (PROMEGA). The constructs were then transfected into Jurkatcells by electroporation using previously described protocols and apreviously described β-galactosidase expression construct as control(See, e.g., Lu et al., Biol Proced Online 6:189 (2004)).

Patch methylation and transfections: The 1018 bp (−966 to +52) TNFSF7gene promoter fragment, cloned into the luciferase-containing vectorpGL3-Basic, was digested with the following restriction endonucleases:

Region 1 (−966 to −490): XhoI and NruI

Region 2 (−490 to −229): NruI and ApaI

Region 3 (−229 to +52): ApaI and HindIII

The 3 fragments were gel purified, methylated with SssI andS-adenosylmethionine (See, e.g., Lu et al., Biol Proced Online 6:189(2004)), and then religated back into the reporter construct.Completeness of methylation was tested by digestion with NarI forregions 1 and 2, and EagI for region 3. Controls included a mockmethylated construct, prepared by omitting the SssI. The methylated ormock methylated constructs were transfected into Jurkat cells byelectroporation and expression measured relative to β-galactosidasecontrols (See, e.g., Lu et al., Biol Proced Online 6:189 (2004)).

EXAMPLE 2 Identification of Methylation-sensitive T Cell Genes

Oligonucleotide arrays were used to identify T cell genes affected byDNA methylation inhibition. Purified T cells were stimulated with PHAand treated with 2-deoxy-5-azaC as described in Materials and Methods.Three 3 days later, gene expression was compared in treated anduntreated cells using oligonucleotide arrays. Overall, 118 genesreproducibly increased≧2-fold, and 12 genes decreased≧2-fold. In 2independent experiments, CD70 expression increased 2.6±0.6-fold(mean±SEM) in treated cells relative to untreated controls (See FIG.1A). These results were confirmed using real time RT-PCR to compare CD70mRNA levels in untreated cells and cells treated with 5-azaC and the ERKpathway inhibitor U0126. U0126 inhibits DNA methylation by decreasinglevels of DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) and Dnmt3a (See, e.g., Deng etal., Arthritis Rheum 48, 746 (2003)). Both drugs increased theexpression of CD70 mRNA relative to that of beta-actin (See FIG. 1B).

EXAMPLE 3 Comparison of DNA Methylation Inhibitors on CD70 Expression

The effects of DNA methylation inhibitors on T cell CD70 expression werefurther confirmed by treating T cells with a panel of DNA methylationinhibitors and measuring CD70 by flow cytometry. The panel of inhibitorsused included 5-azaC, an irreversible DNA methyltransferase inhibitor(See, e.g., Glover and Leyland-Jones, Cancer Treat Rep 71, 959 (1987))procainamide, a competitive DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (See e.g.,Scheinbart et al., J Rheumatol 18, 530 (1991)), and the ERK pathwayinhibitors PD98059, U0126, and hydralazine. Kinetic analyses performedby flow cytometry on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after treatment with all 5drugs demonstrated that the increase in CD70 expression was maximal at 3days after treatment. Histograms represent the CD70 expression inuntreated, PHA-stimulated T cells (See FIG. 2A, filled histogram) and inT cells treated with 1 μM 5-azaC for 3 days (See FIG. 2A, openhistograms). A small increase is observable. The effect of a range of5-azaC concentrations on CD70 expression was also tested, with 1 μMproducing the greatest effect (P=0.001 overall by analysis of variance;n=5 experiments) (See FIG. 2B). The relatively small magnitude of thechange probably reflects the fact that 5-azaC has significant toxicities(See, e.g., Glover and Leyland-Jones, Cancer Treat Rep 71, 959 (1987)).Histograms depict the CD70 expression on untreated T cells (See FIG. 2C,solid histogram) and T cells treated with 20 μM procainamide (See FIG.2C, open histogram) and an increase in the ratio of the meanfluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD70 expression with increase dosage ofprocainamide (See FIG. 2D) (P=0.032; n=6 experiments).

Similarly, histograms represent CD 70 expression on untreated (FIG. 2E,filled histogram) versus T cells treated with 20 μM hydralazine (FIG.2E, open histogram). A dose-response curve using increasingconcentrations of hydralazine is shown (FIG. 2F, P=0.003, n=6). CD70expression on untreated T cells (FIG. 2G., filled histogram) versus Tcells treated with 25 μM PD98059 (FIG. 2G, open histogram) and a doseresponse curve using increasing concentrations of PD98059 (FIG. 2H,P=0.012; n=5) demonstrate an increase in CD70 expression with treatment.The expression of CD70 on untreated T cells (FIG. 2I, filled histogram)and T cells treated with 40 μM U0126 (FIG. 2I, open histogram), and thedose-response curve using increasing amounts of U0126 (FIG. 2J, P=0.002;n=5) demonstrate an increase in CD70 expression with treatment. In thisseries of experiments, there was no significant difference in themaximum increase caused by the DNA methyltransferase inhibitorprocainamide and the ERK pathway inhibitors PD98059 and U0126.

Studies were performed examining the effects of the DNA methylationinhibitors on CD70 expression in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets. 1 μM5-azaC increased CD70 MFI on CD4+ T cells by 1.53±0.45-fold (P=0.025;n=5 experiments), 25 μM PD98059 increased the MFI by 1.63±0.43-fold(P=0.032; n=3), and 40 μM U0126 increased the MFI by 3.20±0.44-fold(P=0.039; n=4). In contrast to the CD4+ population, the increase in CD70MFI was smaller on CD8+ T cells and did not reach statisticalsignificance for any of the drugs tested. However, this smaller increasemay account for the suggestion of 2 populations seen in T cells treatedwith U0126 (FIG. 2I, where CD70 MFI increased 2.83±0.95-fold (P=0.085)).This also most likely accounts for the greater increase in expressionobserved on the CD4+ population relative to the polyclonal cells,particularly for the cells treated with U0126.

It was possible that the drug treatments selected for overgrowth orsurvival of a T cell subset that overexpressed CD70. To exclude thispossibility, the cloned human tetanus toxoid-reactive T cell clone TT48Ewas treated with 1 μM 5-azaC and 40 μM U0126 for 3 days as above. In 6serial experiments, CD70 expression increased 1.69±0.33-fold (P=0.048)on the 5-azaC-treated cells and 1.87±0.37-fold (P=0.004) on theU0126-treated cells. This is evidence against subset selection by thedrug treatment. The smaller increase observed in the U0126-treatedcloned cells relative to the uncloned cells may reflect differencesbetween the cloned line and primary polyclonal cells.

EXAMPLE 4 Effect of DNA Methylation Inhibitors on CD70-Dependent B CellHelp

Since CD70 participates in T cell-dependent B cell stimulation (Seee.g., Kobata et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92, 11249 (1995)), theeffects of DNA methylation inhibitors on CD70-dependent B cell help wereexamined. Unfractionated T cells were stimulated with PHA, treated with5-azaC or U0126 as above, and 3 days later, the treated cells werecultured with PWM and varying numbers of autologous B cells, with andwithout anti-CD70. Eight days later, total IgG in the supernatants wasmeasured by ELISA. Optimal results were routinely observed at T cell toB cell ratios of 1:4 (see below). B cells cultured with 5-azaC-treated Tcells and with U0126-treated T cells secreted greater amounts of IgGthan did B cells cultured with the same numbers of untreated T cells(P<0.05) (See, e.g., FIG. 3). This finding is consistent with earlierreports that increasing the CD70 expression by transfection increases Bcell IgG production in similar systems (See e.g., Kobata et al., ProcNatl Acad Sci U S A 92, 11249 (1995)). Furthermore, the addition ofanti-CD70 decreased IgG production by the treated cells (P<0.05). Asuppressive effect of anti-CD70 on B cells was unlikely, becausestimulating purified B cells with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) then addingthe same amount of anti-CD70 yielded no significant inhibition of IgGsynthesis (B cells plus LPS 136±9 μg/ml and B cells plus LPS andanti-CD70 125±8 μg/ml).

These results were confirmed using the cloned, CD4+, tetanustoxoid-reactive human T cell line TT48E. The T cells were again treatedfor 3 days with 5-azaC or U0126. To further exclude the possibility thatanti-CD70 interacted with CD70 on B cells, the T cells were pretreatedwith anti-CD70 for 30 minutes at 4° C., washed, and then cultured withautologous B cells. Since reports indicate T cells treated with DNAmethylation inhibitors also induce T cell autoreactivity and that theautoreactive cells can directly stimulate B cell IgG secretion (Seee.g., Richardson et al., Clin Immunol Immunopathol 55, 368 (1990)),these studies were performed without the addition of PWM. The cloned Tcells treated with either 5-azaC or U0126 induced B cells producegreater amounts of IgG than did untreated T cells (FIG., 4, P<0.05).Furthermore, pretreatment of the T cells with anti-CD70 decreased IgGsynthesis, indicating a direct effect on T cells (FIG. 4).

EXAMPLE 5 Overexpression of CD70 on T Cells from Patients with ActiveLupus

T cells from patients with active lupus have decreased levels of totalgenomic dmC (See e.g., Richardson et al., Arthritis Rheum 33, 1665(1990)), and the same CD11a and perforin sequences demethylate in lupusT cells as in T cells treated with 5-azaC (See e.g., Kaplan et allArthritis Rheum 46, S282 (2002); Lu et al., Arthritis Rheum 46, 1282(2002)). It was therefore sought to be determined whether CD70 is alsooverexpressed on lupus T cells. Histograms show CD70 expression on Tcells from a patient with active lupus (Lupus) (SLEDAI score 12) and amatched control subject (C) (FIG. 5A). CD70 expression on PHA-stimulatednormal T cells with (dark histogram) and without (light histogram) U0126treatment is also shown (FIG. 5B). A similar pattern of overexpressionwas seen in lupus T cells as in the drug-treated T cells. The percentageof peripheral blood T lymphocytes expressing CD70 in 11 patients withactive lupus and 11 healthy controls is compared (FIG. 5C).Significantly more T cells from lupus patients expressed CD70 (P=0.047).CD70 expression on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from normal controls and lupuspatients was also compared. Significantly more CD4+ T cells from thelupus patients expressed CD70 than did those from the controls (P<0.05),and relatively few CD8+ T cells expressed CD70 (FIG. 5D).

Since T cell DNA methylation decreases in proportion to lupus diseaseactivity, we determined whether disease activity affects T cell CD70expression. To minimize inter-experimental variability, each lupuspatient was paired with an age-, sex-, and race-matched control subjectfor this analysis. The ratio of the CD70 MFI on T cells from lupuspatients and controls was determined and plotted against diseaseactivity, as determined by the SLEDAI (FIG. 5E). The increase in CD70expression was directly related to disease activity (P=0.036 byregression analysis). We similarly studied 3 patients with inactivelupus (SLEDAI score 2, 0, and 0, respectively). The CD70 MFI ratio inpatients and controls was 0.94±0.05, indicating no overexpression inpatients with inactive disease.

Since CD70 is preferentially expressed on activated T cells (See e.g.,Lens et al., Semin Immunol 10, 491 (1998)) and since T cells frompatients with active lupus are frequently activated (See e.g., Yu etal., J Exp Med 152 89s (1980)), it was determined whether CD70expression on T cells from patients with active lupus reflected T cellactivation. Purified T cells from 4 patients with active lupus (Table 1:patients 7, 8, 10, and 11) and 4 control subjects were stained withanti-HLA-DR and anti-CD70 and analyzed by flow cytometry. CD70 waspreferentially expressed on HLA-DR-negative lupus patients' T cells(FIG. 5F, P<0.05). Using the data shown in FIG. 5F, an unpaired t-test,and alpha level of 0.05, as few as 2 subjects per group would give 90%power to detect a difference in CD70 expression on HLA-DR-negative Tcells. The CD70 overexpression on T cells lacking activation markers issimilar to the overexpression of LFA-1 and perforin on T cells (Seee.g., Kaplan et all Arthritis Rheum 46, S282 (2002)) and suggests thatmechanisms other than T cell activation likely contribute to CD70overexpression.

The possibility existed that higher immunosuppression might contributeto this finding. However, the patients were taking differentcombinations of immunosuppressive agents, which does not support thispossibility. Still, many of the patients were receiving prednisone.Therefore, CD70 expression on CD4+ T cells from 3 patients receivingprednisone and various cytotoxic agents but with autoimmune diseasesother than lupus (Table 1) and 3 matched healthy controls were analyzed.No increase in CD70 was seen (0.59±0.29% CD4+, CD70+ cells in patientsversus 0.65±0.51% in controls). To further exclude this possibility,PBMCs were stimulated with PHA, then stimulated and unstimulated cellswere cultured for 24 hours in the presence or absence of gradedconcentrations (1-100 μM) of medications representative of the classescommonly used to treat lupus and not requiring metabolism foractivation. These included indomethacin (for nonsteroidalantiinflammatory drugs), chloroquine (for antimalarials), hydrocortisone(for steroids), and 6-MP (for azathioprine). CD70 and CD4 expressionwere then measured by flow cytometry. No increase in CD70 expression wasseen on stimulated or unstimulated CD4+ cells. Thus, other mechanisms,such as DNA hypomethylation, could play a role.

EXAMPLE 6 Contribution of CD70 to B Cell Activation by Lupus T Cells

To determine if CD70 overexpression on lupus T cells could contribute toB cell activation similar to T cells demethylated with 5-azaC or U0126,T cells from 3 patients with active lupus and 3 healthy controls weretreated with anti-CD70 for 30 minutes at 4° C. as above, then culturedfor 8 days with purified autologous B cells at varying T cell to B cellratios without PWM. At all ratios tested, lupus T cells stimulated IgGsynthesis significantly better (P<0.05) than controls and that a Tcell:B cell ratio of 1:4 resulted in optimal B cell activation (FIG. 6).Using the results shown for a T cell:B cell ratio of 1:4, an unpairedt-test, and alpha level of 0.05, there was 94% power to detect adifference between the lupus patients and controls with 3 subjects pergroup. Furthermore, anti-CD70 significantly decreased (P<0.05) IgGproduction to levels that were not significantly different from those incontrols at all cell ratios tested, similar to the results inexperimentally hypomethylated T cells (See FIGS. 3 and 4).

EXAMPLE 7 Demethylation of Promoter Regulatory Elements Contributes toCD70 Overexpression in CD4+ Lupus T Cells

Demethylation of promoter regulatory elements contributes to CD70overexpression in CD4+ lupus T cells. DNA was isolated from the CD4+ Tcells of 7 healthy individuals, bisulfite treated, and 1000 bp 5′ to theputative CD70 transcription start site (as determined by Tfsitescan) wasamplified by PCR. For each individual, 5 fragments were cloned andsequenced. Each dot on the X axis represents a potentially methylatableCG pair, and the Y axis represents the average methylation of the 35determinations for each point (FIG. 7). The horizontal bar identifies aregion containing 6 CG pairs that is demethylated by methylationinhibitors and in lupus (FIG. 7).

The effect of lupus and DNA methylation inhibitors on a regulatoryelement in the CD70 promoter was examined. DNA was isolated from theCD4+ T cells of 7 healthy individuals or 6 lupus patients, bisulfitetreated, the region from −466-−515, containing 6 CG pairs was amplifiedby PCR, and 5 fragments sequenced from each individual. The averagemethylation status of the 6 CG pairs for healthy versus lupusindividuals is shown (FIG. 8, NI and Lupus, respectively). CD4+ T cellsfrom 5 individuals were also stimulated with PHA, treated with theirreversible DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), andthe methylation status of the 6 CG pairs similarly analyzed from the 25fragments sequenced (FIG. 8, 5-azaC). PHA stimulation has no effect onthe methylation status of this region. Similar studies were performed onstimulated T cells treated with the MEK inhibitor PD98059 (3 donors, 15fragments), the competitive DNA methyltransferase inhibitor procainamide(Pca, 4 donors, 20 fragments), the ERK pathway inhibitor hydralazine(Hyd, 3 donors, 15 fragments), or the MEK inhibitor U0126 (2 donors, 10fragments) (FIG. 8, Pca, Hyd, U0126 and PD85059, respectively). Resultsare presented as the mean±SEM of the average methylation of the 6 CGpairs, measured from the 10-35 determinations/group. Lupus T cells, Tcells treated with the lupus inducing drugs Pca and Hyd, and T cellstreated with either DNA methyltransferase inhibitors or ERK pathwayinhibitors, all demethylate this region (FIG. 8).

Experiments conducted during the development of the present inventionalso demonstrated that DNA methylation inhibitors increased CD11cexpression 6.8-fold as measured by mRNA level.

EXAMPLE 8 Effect of DNA Methylation Inhibitors on CD70 mRNA

Studies conducted during the development of the present inventiondemonstrated that 5-azaC, Pca, Hyd, U0126, and PD98059 increased CD70expression on CD4+ T cells (See, e.g., Example 7). Thus, studies werealso performed to determine if CD70 mRNA levels increased as well.Maintenance DNA methylation is a post-synthetic event (See, e.g.,Attwood et al., Cell Mol Life Sci 59:241(2002)), and Dnmt inhibitorsmust be present during S phase to inhibit methylation of the daughtercells. CD4+ T cells were stimulated with anti-CD3+ anti-CD28 and 18-24hours later treated with the indicated Dnmt inhibitors (5 μm 5-azaC or50 μm Pca) and ERK pathway inhibitors (20 μm Hyd, 40 μm UO126 or 25 μmPD98059) for 3 days. 3 days later CD70 transcripts were measured inuntreated (See, e.g., FIG. 9 black bars) and treated (FIG. 9crosshatched bars) cells relative to β-actin by real time RT-PCR.Results are present the mean±SEM of the indicated number of repeats,normalized to the untreated control. Each of these drugs increase CD70transcripts (See, e.g., FIG. 9).

EXAMPLE 9 Characterization of the TNFSF7 Promoter

It was next determined if the 5 DNA methylation inhibitors affect thesame regulatory sequences. The TNFSF7 promoter has not beencharacterized, but the TNFSF7 genomic sequence is available from thehuman genome database (See, e.g., NCBI accession number NT 011255).Provided in FIG. 10 is a graphic representation of the TNFSF7 promoterwith the locations of the potentially methylatable CG pairs, start site,CAAT boxes and putative transcription factor binding motifs indicated(filled circles represent the potentially methylatable CG pairs, and thebroken arrow the putative transcription start site, with the locationsof potential transcription factor binding sites and CAAT boxes alsoshown).

Promoter activity was then tested. A 1018 bp fragment (−996 to +52)containing the putative transcription start site was amplified by PCR,verified by sequencing, then cloned into pGL3-Basic. The construct orthe pGL3 vector without insert were then transfected into Jurkat cellsby electroporation using β-galactosidase as a control. The results arepresented relative to β-galactosidase, and represent the mean±SEM of 4independent experiments (See, e.g., FIG. 11) FIG. 11A presents datademonstrating that the TNFSF7 fragment has promoter activity (p=0.02 byt-test). Two 5′ truncated fragments were similarly generated by PCR, andthe entire fragment (−966 to +52) or the truncated mutants (−572 to +52and −360 to +52) were transfected into Jurkat cells (FIG. 11B). Thefirst 321 bp 5′ to the predicted start site has promoter activityessentially identical to the longer fragments, suggesting that themajority of the promoter activity is located within this region.

EXAMPLE 10 Methylation Patterns of the TNFSF7 Promoter and 5′ FlankingRegion

The methylation status of the TNFSF7 promoter was then analyzed (See,e.g., FIG. 12). CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were isolated from the peripheralblood of healthy subjects, DNA isolated, treated with bisulfite, thenthe region shown in FIG. 10 was amplified in 3 sequential fragments asdescribed in Materials and Methods. Briefly, DNA was isolated fromprimary CD4+ T cells of healthy volunteers, treated with sodiumbisulfite, the region shown in FIG. 10 amplified by PCR in 3 sequentialfragments, cloned, and 5 clones from each amplified fragment weresequenced for each donor. The dots on the X axis represent the locationof each CG pair, and the dot above represents the mean fraction that ismethylated.

The amplified fragments were cloned and 5 clones sequenced from eachamplified fragment from each subject. FIG. 12A shows the averagemethylation of each of the 32 CG pairs in CD4+ T cells from 4 donors (bp−211 to +29) or 8 donors (bp −956 to −288), thus representing a total of20-40 determinations per CG pair. FIG. 12B shows a similar analysis ofthe same region in CD8+ T cells from 4 healthy donors, representing 20determinations for each CG pair. In both subsets, the region from thetranscription start site to −300, corresponding to the region withpromoter activity (FIG. 11B), is nearly completely demethylated,consistent with an active gene. The region from ˜−400 to −700 ispartially methylated, while the more distal region (−750 to −1000) isnearly completely methylated. Although there appears to be a smalldecrease in methylation in the region from −515 to −300 in CD4+ T cells,the average methylation in this region was not significantly differentfrom CD8+ T cells (p=0.175), and overall, the pattern of methylation inCD4+ and CD8+ T cells is essentially the same.

EXAMPLE 11 Effect of DNA Methylation Inhibitors on TNFSF7 PromoterMethylation

The effects of the DNA methylation inhibitors on the methylation statusof this region were then compared. FIG. 13A shows the averagemethylation of each CG pair in the methylated region (−956 to −288) inCD4+ T cells from 7 healthy controls stimulated with anti-CD3 andanti-CD28. Again, 5 cloned fragments were sequenced from each control,for a total of 35 determinations per CG pair. Compared to FIG. 12,stimulation has no significant effect on the methylation status of thisregion, consistent with the effects of stimulation on other T cell geneslike ITGAL and PRF1 (See, e.g., Lu et al., Arthritis Rheum46:1282(2002); Lu et al., J Immunol 170:5124(2003)). FIG. 13B shows theeffect of 5-azaC on the methylation pattern of the same region instimulated CD4+ cells from 5 healthy donors. The 10 CG pairs in theregion between −515 and −423 are hypomethylated compared to controls(FIG. 12A). The same region appears to demethylate in T cells treatedwith Pca (FIG. 13C), U0126 (FIG. 13D), PD98059 (FIG. 13E), and Hyd (FIG.13F). FIG. 14 compares the average methylation for the 10 CG pairs (−515to −423) in the T cells treated with DNA methylation inhibitors relativeto stimulated, untreated controls. All 5 methylation inhibitors, whethersignaling inhibitors or Dnmt inhibitors, significantly decrease theoverall methylation of this region.

EXAMPLE 12 Effect of Methylation on TNFSF7 Promoter Function

The transcriptional relevance of the methylation changes was determinedusing regional or “patch” methylation (See, Example 1). The 1018 bppromoter fragment was cloned into pGL3-Basic, then the regions from −996to −490, −490 to −229, or −229 to +52 were individually excised,methylated in vitro with SssI and S-adenosylmethionine, ligated backinto the expression construct, and transfected into Jurkat cells.Controls included β-galactosidase transfection controls as well as mockmethylated constructs, similarly generated but omitting the SssI. Theresults are shown in FIG. 15. Results (gray bars) are normalized topaired mock methylated controls (black bars) similarly generated butomitting the SssI, and represent the mean±SEM of 3 independentexperiments. Statistical analysis was by paired t-test, methylated vsmock methylated.

Methylation of each fragment suppressed promoter function relative tomock methylated controls (p=0.019, by paired t-test for −996 to −490,p=0.009 for −490 to −229, and p=0.025 for −229 to +52). However,methylation of the region from −490 to −229, which was affected by themethylation inhibitors, inhibits promoter function to a greater extentthan does methylation of the distal sequences (−996 to −490) (p=0.013 byANOVA with post hoc testing and Bonferroni correction). Methylation ofthe core promoter also suppresses promoter function to a greater extentthan the distal sequence, but this was of marginal significance(p=0.070). These studies indicate that methylation of the CG pairsbetween −490 and −229 is transcriptionally relevant, and suppressespromoter function to a greater degree than methylation of the moredistal sequences.

EXAMPLE 13 Demethylation of the CD70 Promoter and 5′ Flanking Region inLupus T Cells

Studies have indicated that CD70 is overexpressed on the surface of CD4+T cells from patients with active lupus (See, e.g., Oelke et al.,Arthritis Rheum 50:1850 (2004)). Thus, an object of the presentinvention was to define whether the increase was associated with anincrease in CD70 mRNA levels. Data obtained and presented in FIG. 16compares the level of CD70 transcripts in CD4+ T cells from 10 patientswith lupus (5 inactive, 5 active), 3 patients with RA and 9 healthycontrols (See, e.g., Table 1). CD70 is also significantly (p=0.03 lupusvs controls) increased at the mRNA level in T cells from lupus patients.The difference in CD70 mRNA levels between patients with active andinactive lupus was not significant (1.52±0.74 vs 0.49±0.09, mean±SEM,active vs inactive). No correlation between medications and CD70expression was observed (See, Table 1).

CD70 promoter methylation patterns of the region from −1000 to −200 werethen compared in CD4+ T cells from patients with active and inactivelupus with controls. FIG. 17A shows the methylation pattern in T cellsfrom 4 healthy age and gender matched controls, while FIG. 17B shows themethylation pattern in T cells from 5 women with inactive lupus, andFIG. 17C shows the pattern in 6 women with active lupus. The region from−515 to −423, demethylated by the panel of methylation inhibitors, isalso demethylated in CD4+ T cells from lupus patients with both activeand inactive disease relative to controls. FIG. 17D compares the averagemethylation of the region between −515 and −423 across the 3 groups. Theoverall methylcytosine content is significantly less in lupus than incontrols (p=0.004 and 0.002 for inactive and active patients vscontrols, respectively, by ANOVA and post hoc testing with Bonferronicorrection), similar to T cells demethylated with methylationinhibitors. Again, no correlation with medications was observed (Table1).

EXAMPLE 14 Characterization of CD40L Promoter Methylation Status inHealthy and Autoimmune Subjects

Using the methods of the present invention (See, e.g., Examples 1-13),the methylation status of the CD40L promoter was analyzed in healthy andautoimmune (e.g., SLE) subjects. Specifically, CD40L gene methylationwas determined by bisulfite sequencing (See, e.g., Example 1) in T cellsfrom healthy men and women. The methylation status of the CD40L promoterwas analyzed in T cells from healthy women before and after in vitrotreatment with procainamide; men and women with lupus; and T cells fromhealthy men and women treated with the irreversible DNA methylationinhibitor, 5-azaC (See, e.g., Examples 1 and 3). CD40L mRNA measured byRT-PCR (See, e.g., Example 1). CD40L cell-surface expression wasmeasured by flow cytometry with cell-surface expression of CD40L onstimulated T cells compared between healthy controls and men and womenwith lupus (See, e.g., Examples 1 and 13).

The methods of the present invention identified CD40L promotermethylation sites and patterns in healthy men and women (See, e.g., FIG.18). Closed circles indicate methylated fragments. Furthermore, themethods allowed bisulfite sequencing of CD40L promoter fragments inhealthy men and women (See, e.g., FIG. 19). Overall methylation(N=3/grp): men, 6±2%; women, 45±4%. The methods provides data showningthat CD40L promoter methylation in CD4+ cells from three healthy womenvaried from that of a woman with active lupus (See, e.g., FIG. 20). Barsindicate overall percent methylation. These differences were furtherexplored. Thus, FIG. 21 provides CD40L promoter methylation in CD4+cells from 3 healthy women and 5 women with active lupus. Overallmethylation: controls, 45±4%; patients, 18±6% (p=0.001). A diagram ofthe CD40L promoter is depicted in FIG. 22.

All publications and patents mentioned in the above specification areherein incorporated by reference. Various modifications and variationsof the described method and system of the invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe invention. Although the invention has been described in connectionwith specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that theinvention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specificembodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes forcarrying out the invention that are obvious to those skilled in therelevant fields are intended to be within the scope of the followingclaims.

1. A method for diagnosing or monitoring an autoimmune or chronicinflammatory disease, wherein said autoimmune or chronic inflammatorydisease is systemic lupus erythrematosus or rheumatoid arthritis, in asubject, comprising: (a) providing nucleic acid from a subject; and (b)detecting the methylation status of CD70 in said nucleic acid; whereinthe presence of demethylated CD70 in said subject, when compared to themethylation of CD70 in a healthy subject, is indicative of the presenceof an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein said method detects methylation status of the −338 to −515region of the 5′ untranslated CD70 region.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising detecting methylation status of one or more of CD40L,perforin, CD11a, CD11c, IgE, FCRβ1, and CD30.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein said detecting comprises using a kit comprising reagentssufficient for detecting methylation status of CD70 in a subject.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein said kit comprises a positive control thatindicates CD70 methylation status.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinsaid kit comprises instructions for using said kit for said detectingmethylation status of CD70.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein saidmethod detects methylation status of the 5′ untranslated region of CD70.8. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting comprises use of apolymerase chain reaction.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein saidpolymerase chain reaction is methylation sensitive.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said detecting comprises differential antibody binding,oligonucleotide binding assays, or use of a microarray.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein said detecting comprises restriction enzymedigestion.